A Comparison of Objective Convective Activity Indices,
Abstract
Three objective indices of convective activity are compared in an application to two case studies. The three indices are: the United States Air Force Global Weather Central SWEAT Index, the Lifted Index, and a quantity representing the vertical transport of moisture from the planetary boundary layer (qw). A variational analysis technique is applied to standard rawinsonde wind data to obtain boundary layer grid fields of kinematic parameters while a simple objective analysis is applied to obtain boundary layer grid fields for thermodynamic air properties. In this study, the boundary layer is represented by four levels from the surface to 3000 feet above terrain elevation in 1000-foot increments. It is shown that there are only minor differences in the areal resolution of potential thunderstorm threat areas depicted by the SWEAT Index and the Lifted Index. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0740388
Entities
People
- Darell R. Whitehead
Organizations
- University of Oklahoma