The Bow Echo and MCV Experiment: Observations and Opportunities

Abstract

The Bow Echo and Mesoscale Convective Vortex Experiment (BAMEX) is a research investigation using highly mobile platforms to examine the life cycles of mesoscale convective systems. It represents a combination of two related investigations to study (a) bow echoes, principally those that produce damaging surface winds and last at least 4 h, and (b) larger convective systems that produce long-lived mesoscale convective vortices (MCVs). The field phase of BAMEX utilized three instrumented research aircraft and an array of mobile ground-based instruments. Two long-range turboprop aircraft were equipped with pseudo-dual-Doppler radar capability, the third aircraft was a jet equipped with dropsondes. The aircraft documented the environmental structure of mesoscale convective systems (MCSs), observed the kinematic and thermodynamic structure of the convective line and stratiform regions (where rear-inflow jets and MCVs reside), and captured the structure of mature MCVs. The ground-based instruments augmented sou...

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Affiliated Institutions

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration US
• University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign US
• University of Alabama in Huntsville US
• University of California, Los Angeles US
• NOAA National Weather Service US
• NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research US
• University Corporation for Atmospheric Research US
• University at Albany, State University of New York US
• University of Oklahoma US
• Northern Vermont University US
• University of Washington US
• Colorado State University US
• Foreca (Finland) FI

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