Evolution of boundary layer wind and moisture fields along a front during IHOP

One of the principal goals of the International H2O Project (IHOP) was to further our understanding of spatial and temporal water vapor variability and how this variability affects convection initiation (CI). On 3 June 2002 a wealth of mobile observing systems were deployed in the Oklahoma panhandle in hopes of observing convection initiation along a front. Convection failed to be initiated along the front, likely as a result of tremendous convective inhibition (CIN). Values as large as 400 J kg−1 were observed on soundings launched in the area. Even though this case may not seem like an enticing convection initiation case—or perhaps even a good convection initiation failure case, owing to the rather obvious reason for failure (that being the very unfavorable large-scale conditions promoting the large CIN)—a possibly unprecedented dataset was obtained along the front. High-resolution radar data collected by four mobile radars afforded nearly seven continuous hours of dual-Doppler wind syntheses from 1600–2300 UTC as the front moved slowly southward as a cold front, stalled, and then retreated northward as a warm front. Furthermore, the intercept occurred in the vicinity of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Sband dual-Polarization Doppler radar (SPOL). Refractivity measurements from SPOL allowed the low-level moisture field to be retrieved in the vicinity of the front. Our ongoing research includes a thorough analysis of the three-dimensional kinematic fields synthesized from the Doppler radar data, and the refractivity-derived moisture field along the front. This paper reports some of the results obtained thusfar.