Research

Research within the Mesoscale Group is very diverse ranging from orographic precipitation to extratropical cyclones. This variety of topics requires an equally diverse range of techniques for its analysis. This includes conceptual, theoretical and numerical models with different degrees of complexity.

The research carried out by the group can be classified in the following areas:

• Mesoscale dynamics
• Precipitation
• Pollutant transport
• Convective processes

Mesoscale dynamics

There are still many open questions regarding the basic physical processes and mechanisms behind various mesoscale meteorological systems such as cyclones and fronts.

• Diabatic influence on mesoscale structures in extratropical storms
• Sting jets in severe Northern European windstorms
• The effect of targeted observations on the prediction of weather systems
• Stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) and mesoscale dynamics
• Gravity waves and convective forcing efficiency
• Case study analysis of convectively-generated gravity waves
• Moisture cycles in cyclones

Precipitation

Accurate precipitation forecast is an important goal not only for its immediate applicability but also to enable our numerical models to correctly evaluate the total amount of water in the atmosphere.

• Quasi-stationary convective storms
• Small-scale mechanisms of orographic precipitation enhancement

Pollutant transport

Human health is to a significant extent linked to air quality. It is thus important to understand the role of meteorological processes in the transport of air pollutants from the places where they are generated to populated areas.

• Air quality modelling and the impact of high time resolution meteorological data
• Air quality dispersion modelling in urban areas
• Air pollution transport by the land-sea breeze
• Boundary layer ventilation by mid-latitude weather systems

Convective processes

Whether parameterised or fully resolved, convective processes still pose important challenges to numerical weather prediction.

• Flooding from Intense Rainfall: Exploiting new observations and data assimilation techniques for improved forecasting of convective precipitation.
• Cloud tracking and lifecycles in numerical models
• Theory of convective parameterization
• Interactions between tropical convection and large-scale dynamics
• Stochastic aspects of convection
• Ensemble development for convective-scale forecasting
• Trade-wind convection over tropical islands
• Convection initiation over heated mountains
• Predictability of convection in COPS