Convection & Near-Storm Environment Research

Improving the understanding and prediction of severe convection with mobile observing systems.

This body of work focuses on improving the understanding and prediction of severe convection by designing and executing major field campaigns. These projects use advanced, mobile observing systems—including UAS, Doppler lidars, and remote sensing profilers (CLAMPS)—to capture the critical, small-scale boundary layer processes that initiate and sustain severe thunderstorms across diverse environments.

Great Plains Supercells and Tornadogenesis

A primary research thrust targets the dynamics of supercell thunderstorms in the Great Plains.

  • Targeted Observation by Radars and UAS of Supercells (TORUS) (2019-2023): This project aimed to understand the relationships between supercells and tornado formation. My role included leading the development and initial deployment of the NSSL Doppler lidar truck (later upgraded to a more robust dual-lidar system). This work has led to the advanced analysis of supercell inflow, including the observation of coherent vertical vorticity structures known as “velocity worms” (Gebauer et al. 2025, in review).

  • Plains Elevated Convection At Night (PECAN) (2015-Present): This large field project studied the triggers and lifecycle of nighttime thunderstorms. The CLAMPS1 system was deployed as part of a mobile mesoscale network, with my research focusing specifically on the role of Nocturnal Low-Level Jets (NLLJ).

  • Mini-Mesoscale Predictability Experiment (mini-MPEX) (2016): This project used the CLAMPS system to test the real-time targeting of pre-storm observations. The goal was to improve numerical model forecasts by assimilating these observations into model initial conditions, directly informing NOAA’s upper-air observing network strategy and supporting the Warn on Forecast (WoFS) project. This was also evaluated during TORUS (Laser et al. 2022).

Southeastern U.S. & Complex Terrain Convection

A significant and ongoing effort investigates the unique challenges of severe weather in the southeastern U.S.

  • VORTEX-SE/PERILS (2022-Present): This work addresses cold-season severe convection. During the PERiLS field campaign (2023-2024), we deployed CLAMPS facilities alongside CopterSonde UAS in a “network-in-network” configuration. This dense dataset allows for experiments on observation impact and network design and is the foundation for a student-led project (Ammon et al. 2025, in press) exploring the impacts of terrain and land use on convection in the Mississippi River Delta.

  • VORTEX-SE/Multi-Year Profiling Analysis (2019): Prior to PERiLS, this foundational project used a multi-year dataset from CLAMPS deployments in the southeast to define what these profiling systems measure in this difficult environment and how those observations compare to standard forecast tools.

Coastal & Urban Convective Environments

This research explores how unique surface features in populated areas interact with larger-scale weather patterns to initiate storms.

  • TRACER/CUBIC (2020-2021): Deployed in the Houston, TX, area, this project studied the interaction of urban circulations and sea-breezes on cloud formation. CUBIC deployed 3 mobile profilers (including both CLAMPS) in a transect from the coast to upwind of the Houston downtown area to observe the spatial variability of the boundary layer and sea-breeze progression. These data also allow us to study sea-breeze convection initiation and its representation in the Warn on Forecast System (WoFS). As part of the complementary TRACER-UAS team, I helped deploy quad-copter and fixed-wing UAS to capture both vertical profiles and horizontal gradients of the atmosphere. These observations provide revolutionary insight into spatial and temporal effects not previously evaluated (Lappin et al. 2024, Lamer et al. 2024).