A modeling investigation of cloud-induced turbulence

Abstract

On 10 July 1997 a commercial passenger aircraft encountered severe turbulence, near Dickinson, ND, while passing directly over a developing thunderstorm. While passing over this cloud, the aircraft suffered accelerations of approximately two g's, in a period of about 10 seconds. Subsequently, twenty passengers and two flight attendants suffered minor injuries. This turbulence encounter motivates the current modeling study, which seeks to understand the generation of turbulence in the clear-air directly above penetrating deep convection. A high-resolution two-dimensional cloudresolving model simulation will be presented. This calculation resolves both the cloud, and the turbulence that develo..