Research
2006 - present: Tropical and subtropical convection
Convective systems play a fundamental role in producing
precipitation over tropical and subtropical
regions. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand
the structure and mechanisms leading to their occurrence. The
objective of this study is to gain an understanding of the
distribution and structure of convective systems in the
presence of land-ocean contrast, different terrain shapes, and
terrain gradients. The main focus is on two regions: South
Asia and tropical/subtropical South America, with
their respective surrounding waters.
These regions are characterized by land-ocean contrast and
large terrain gradients, as they feature prominent mountain
ranges: the Himalayas and Andes, respectively.
The satellite-borne Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission
(TRMM)
Precipitation Radar (PR) is an ideal instrument to study
precipitation and convective systems in tropical/subtropical
regions, especially in remote, mountainous areas. In this
studies the three-dimensional reflectivity observed by the
TRMM-PR is being used to classify precipitating systems not
only by their spatial dimensions but by their physical
properties (e.g., convective/stratiform nature, vertical
structure, etc.) which provide information on the associated
microphysical and dynamical processes. The spatial, seasonal,
and diurnal variations of the systems offer clues to the
topographic and meteorological conditions that favor their
occurrence. In addition, National Centers for Environmental
Prediction (NCEP)
reanalysis is used to give information about the large-scale
prevailing conditions associated with the occurrence of convective systems.
The specific objectives of my studies are to determine:
- The geographical, seasonal, and diurnal distribution of convective systems in the vicinity of the Himalayas and Andes
- The synoptic and mesoscale conditions that facilitate or hinder the formation of convection in these regions
- The role of the topography, terrain shapes and gradients, and land-ocean contrast in triggering the convection
- The contribution of different types of convective systems
to the observed precipitation climatology in the vicinity of the Himalayas and Andes
- How convective systems are modified when they encounter complex
terrain
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2006: Relativistic Viscous Hydrodynamics
Through my husband I got involved in high energy physics,
namely in relativistic viscous
hydrodynamics. As I am more on the programming side rather than
the physics side of this project please refer to Paul
Romatschke's homepage for more information.
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2003 - 2004: GPS Meteorology
Travelling from a satellite to its receiver on earth a Global
Positioning System (GPS)
signal is delayed when entering the atmosphere. This delay is
a source of error for the GPS triangulation and therefore
costantly measured by reference stations. As the delay is
proportional to the water content of the atmosphere the
humidity integrated over the whole atmosphere can be
calculated from these measurements.
In my "Diplomarbeit"
(Master Thesis) I am calculating humidity time series for
various GPS reference stations in Austria and comparing them
with sounding data. The main
purposes are to find out how reasonable the relatively new
GPS data source is and to check the method which
is used by geodesists to calculate the humidity values. This leads to
error estimates for the results of
the calculations and leads to suggestions on how to improve
the methods used.
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