Change in hailstone size distributions with an increase in the melting level height

Dessens, Jean; Berthet, Claude; Sanchez, J.L.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2014.07.004

Cited by 60 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 38 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…assumptions regarding the size distribution, occurrence and terminal velocities of hail (Dessens et al, 2015;Allen et al, 2017;Heymsfield et al, 2014). The evolution of the NWS radar network to dual polarization provides an unprecedented opportunity for spatial estimates of hail presence and size in clouds (Kumjian et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radar-derived precipitation climatology for wind turbine blade leading edge erosion

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wind turbine blade leading edge erosion (LEE) is a potentially significant source of revenue loss for wind farm operators. Thus, it is important to advance understanding of the underlying causes, to generate geospatial estimates of erosion potential to provide guidance in pre-deployment planning, and ultimately to advance methods to mitigate this effect and extend blade lifetimes. This study focuses on the second issue and presents a novel approach to characterizing the erosion potential across the contiguous USA based solely on publicly available data products from the National Weather Service dual-polarization radar. The approach is described in detail and illustrated using six locations distributed across parts of the USA that have substantial wind turbine deployments. Results from these locations demonstrate the high spatial variability in precipitationinduced erosion potential, illustrate the importance of low-probability high-impact events to cumulative annual total kinetic energy transfer and emphasize the importance of hail as a damage vector.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Radar-derived precipitation climatology for wind turbine blade leading edge erosion

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“… Precipitable water (PW) is defined as the total atmospheric water vapor contained in a vertical column of unit cross‐sectional area extending between two layers. Because there is too much missing sounding data above 200 hPa, we selected the ground and 200 hPa as the bottom and top layers to make the integration when calculating PW based on the quality control criteria introduced in the following subsection. Convective available potential energy (CAPE), a measure of convective energy and positive buoyancy of an air parcel, is calculated as in Williams and Renno () but only integrated to 200 hPa. Melting level height (MLH), a strong control of freeze‐thaw processes (Diaz and Graham, 1996), is defined as the height at which air temperature falls below zero following recent studies (Dessens et al, ; Mahoney et al, ). Vertical wind shear (VWS), a critical dynamic factor in the determination of thunderstorm type and potential storm severity (Weisman & Klemp, ) as well as convection initiation (Lee et al, ), is defined as the wind speed difference between the ground and 400 hPa in the TP. …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of Hail and Storm Days to Climate Change in the Tibetan Plateau

Tian

Zhang

et al. 2018

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is increasing concern that local severe storm occurrence may be changing as a result of climate change. The Tibetan Plateau (TP), one of the world's most sensitive areas to climate change, became significantly warmer during recent decades. Since 1960Since (1980, storm (hail) days have been decreasing by 6.2%/decade (18.3%/decade) in the region. However, what caused the frequency changes of storm and hail in the TP is largely unknown. Based on 53-year continuous weather records at 48 TP stations and reanalysis data, we show here for the first time that the consistent decline of storm days is strongly related to a drier midtroposphere since 1960. Further analysis demonstrated that fewer hail days are driven by an elevation of the melting level (thermodynamically) and a weaker wind shear (dynamically) in a warming climate. These results imply that less storm and hail may occur over TP when climate warms.Plain Language Summary How the severe storm, such as hail and thunderstorm, will respond to climate change remains uncertain. Particularly, the Tibetan Plateau, which experienced greatest hail frequency and also has one of the most frequent occurrences of severe storms in China, has been found to be one of the most sensitive areas to global climate change. In this work, we tried to explain the connection between the change of severe storm and the change of climate in the Tibetan Plateau. To do this, we used continuous and persistent weather phenomena reports recorded by professionally well-trained observers over the Tibetan Plateau and analyzed storm-related parameters using both sounding data and reanalysis data over half a century. We demonstrated that there was consistent decline of severe storm which is strongly related to a drier midtroposphere. Further analysis demonstrated that recent years with less hail days present higher melting level and weaker wind shear than those years with more hail days. These results provide us a better understanding of the response of severe storm to climate change and imply that there would be much less severe storm if warming continues in the near future in the Tibetan Plateau.

show abstract

“…From hail pad data over France between 1989, Berthet et al (2011 also found that the frequency of hailstorms did not change significantly during 1989-2009, while the intensity increased by 70 % during April and May. Dessens et al (2015) found that with the increase of the melting level height, there was a decrease in the number of small hailstones (5 to 7 mm diameter) and an increase in the number of larger hailstones, particularly in the 11 to 21 mm ranges, and in southwestern France, the hail intensity would increase between 2000 and 2040 with global warming.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns and trends of high-impact weather in China during 1959–2014

Shi

Wen

Cui³

2016

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The spatial and temporal characteristics of the frequencies of four types of high-impact weather (HIW), i.e. snowfall, thunderstorms, fog and hailstorms, were analysed in China during . Results indicate a significant decrease in the number of snowfall days, thunderstorm days and thunderstorm spells in all six regions of China, with regional decreasing rates of 0.1-3.4 days, 1.6-5.1 days and 0.23-0.77 times per decade respectively. The number of foggy days, hailstorm days and snowfall spells decreased at rates of 0.2-1.8 days, 0.1-0.7 days and 0.14-0.44 times per decade respectively in almost all regions and fog and hailstorm spells decreased at rates of 0.06-0.17 and 0.001-0.043 times per decade respectively in most regions of China. Spatially, there was more snowfall in northeastern China and western China, and more thunderstorms in southern China and southwestern China. The number of fog events was larger in some high mountain stations, eastern China and central China. Hailstorms were concentrated on QinghaiTibet Plateau. Over the past 56 years, snowfall days, thunderstorm days and thunderstorm spells decreased in most parts of China, and hailstorm days decreased in northeastern China, most parts of northern China and Tibet, southern Qinghai and western Sichuan. The spatial trends of foggy days, foggy spells, snowfall spells and hailstorm spells were not significant in most parts of China. With global warming, some types of HIW are likely to increase in their intensities, so more mitigation and adaptation strategies are still essential for local government and the public in China.

show abstract

Change in hailstone size distributions with an increase in the melting level height

Cited by 60 publications

References 38 publications

Radar-derived precipitation climatology for wind turbine blade leading edge erosion

Radar-derived precipitation climatology for wind turbine blade leading edge erosion

Responses of Hail and Storm Days to Climate Change in the Tibetan Plateau

Patterns and trends of high-impact weather in China during 1959–2014

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About