Edward Zipser

A Storm Safari in Subtropical South America: Proyecto RELAMPAGO

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2021 · 116 citations

Abstract This article provides an overview of the experimental design, execution, education and public outreach, data collection, and initial scientific results from the Remote Sensing of Electrification, Lightning, and Mesoscale/Microscale Processes with Adaptive Ground Observations (RELAMPAGO) field campaign. RELAMPAGO was a major field campaign conducted in the Córdoba and Mendoza provinces in Argentina and western Rio Grande do Sul State in Brazil in 2018–19 that involved more than 200 scien…

Utilizing a Storm-Generating Hotspot to Study Convective Cloud Transitions: The CACTI Experiment

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2021 · 96 citations

Abstract The Cloud, Aerosol, and Complex Terrain Interactions (CACTI) field campaign was designed to improve understanding of orographic cloud life cycles in relation to surrounding atmospheric thermodynamic, flow, and aerosol conditions. The deployment to the Sierras de Córdoba range in north-central Argentina was chosen because of very frequent cumulus congestus, deep convection initiation, and mesoscale convective organization uniquely observable from a fixed site. The C-band Scanning Atmosph…

What Are the Favorable Large-Scale Environments for the Highest-Flash-Rate Thunderstorms on Earth?

Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences · 2020 · 42 citations

Abstract A 16-yr Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) convective feature (CF) dataset and ERA-Interim data are used to understand the favorable thermodynamic and kinematic environments for high-flash-rate thunderstorms globally as well as regionally. We find that intense thunderstorms, defined as having more than 50 lightning flashes within a CF during the ~90-s TRMM overpassing time share a few common thermodynamic features over various regions. These include large convective available po…

Effects of Under-Resolved Convective Dynamics on the Evolution of a Squall Line

Monthly Weather Review · 2019-10-21 · 42 citations

Abstract Simulations of a squall line observed on 20 May 2011 during the Midlatitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) using 750- and 250-m horizontal grid spacing are performed. The higher-resolution simulation has less upshear-tilted deep convection and a more elevated rear inflow jet than the coarser-resolution simulation in better agreement with radar observations. A stronger cold pool eventually develops in the 250-m run; however, the more elevated rear inflow counteracts the…

Extreme Convection vs. Extreme Rainfall: a Global View

Current Climate Change Reports · 2021-12-01 · 31 citations