02/18/25: Jason Keeler
February 18 @ 11:30 am - 12:30 pm
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Time: 11:30am-12:30pm EST
Location: NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, Lake Superior Hall and Virtual
Presenter: Jason M. Keeler, Ph.D. (he, him, his), Associate Professor of Meteorology, Dept. of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Institute for Great Lakes Research, Central Michigan University
Title: The Maritime to Inland Transitions Towards ENvironments for Convection Initiation (MITTEN-CI) Field Campaign
About the presentation:The evolution of the marine atmospheric boundary layer as it advects inland during the warm season plays a critical role in the initiation–or suppression–of convection in the Great Lakes coastal
environment. Gaining a deeper understanding of these transitions and their effects on convection is of significant importance, particularly given the large population in many coastal areas. To address this, the
National Science Foundation-funded Maritime to Inland Transitions Towards ENvironments for Convection Initiation (MITTEN-CI) campaign was conducted in July 2024, with the goal of developing an extensive dataset that could effectively characterize these transitions. Over-lake thermodynamic and kinematic profiles were observed by Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS), while sampling of boundary layer spatial and temporal variability over land was observed by a 120 km long shore-perpendicular transect including six flux towers, two mobile mesonets, multiple radiosonde launch sites, a Doppler LiDAR, and two mobile Ka-band Doppler radars. This dataset enables hypothesis testing that will result in new knowledge of processes that support the development of instability maxima on the cool side of lake-breeze fronts (LBFs), the potential for diffuse LBFs to exist embedded within synoptic-scale onshore flow and influence CI, the prevalence of misovortices at intersections of horizontal convective rolls and the LBF, RKW theory’s relation to the vertical structure of the LBF, and the influence of entrainment on the thermodynamics and structure of the boundary layer and the LBF. This talk will provide an overview of the MITTEN-CI campaign, highlighting the unique data collected, with additional insights provided through analysis of relevant idealized simulations.
About the speaker: Jason Keeler is an Associate Professor of Meteorology and has been a faculty member of Central Michigan University’s Institute for Great Lakes Research since 2018. He joined the faculty at CMU following postdoctoral studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and graduate studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research blends aspects of boundary layer and mesoscale dynamics, with a focus on destabilization and evolution of convection, often applied to coastal areas. Jason and his collaborators explored these processes in summer 2024 through the NSF-funded MITTEN-CI field campaign (Maritime to Inland Transitions Towards ENvironments for Convection Initiation). In his spare time, Jason is an avid gardener, and enjoys traveling with his husband.
**Registration is not required**
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IMPORTANT VISITOR INFORMATION
All seminar attendees are required to receive a visitor badge from the front desk at the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory facility. Attendees need to present a valid U.S. photo ID or green card. If you are a Foreign National, we encourage you to attend virtually. For questions regarding building access, please email Margaret Throckmorton at [email protected]. Additional questions? Contact Margaret Throckmorton: [email protected]; visit ciglr.seas.umich.edu for more information.
