The Flexible Array of Radars and Mesonets (FARM) team, part of the Severe Weather Institute – Radar & Lightning Laboratories (SWIRLL) at The University of Alabama in Huntsville’s (UAH) Earth System and Science Center (ESSC), has been awarded three grants totaling $5 million to support critical instruments and one of the most ambitious hail studies ever conducted. The first two grants earmark $2.1 million to manage Doppler on Wheels (DOWS) and C-band on Wheels (COWS) facilities and other meteorological instruments, while an additional $2.9 million will provide instruments and support scientific analysis for the National Science Foundation initiative, In-Situ Collaborative Experiment for the Collection of Hail in the Plains (ICECHIP).
The grants support a wide range of collaborative studies during the next few years at UAH, a part of The University of Alabama System. These projects include research on alpine cloud seeding and orographic precipitation; lake effect snowstorms, lightning and southwestern monsoons; and UAH-led efforts focusing on tornadoes, hurricanes and wildfires. The UAH team will also contribute to significant advances in targeted/mobile observing systems, such as quickly deployable long-wavelength radars and bistatic radar networks.
Starting in May 2025, the UAH team will head to the field for ICECHIP. This initiative seeks to investigate the processes of hail formation, particularly the factors that contribute to the development of large, damaging hailstones. The project involves a collaborative effort among approximately a dozen institutions, including UAH. The study focuses on understanding storm behaviors, identifying precursors to improve forecasting and providing critical insights for engineering solutions against hail-related damages. The findings are expected to improve prediction capabilities, minimize economic losses and save lives.
The project's scope extends across regions prone to varying types of hail formation, including the front range of the Rockies and the High Plains, where large hailstones pose a significant threat to agriculture, transportation and infrastructure. Researchers will study everything from plowable hail events in Colorado and Wyoming to the massive hailstones characteristic of the Plains states, such as Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Oklahoma. These massive hailstones, sometimes reaching four inches in diameter or more, have consequential economic and safety implications.
The research team plans to deploy FARM weather radars, including DOWS, COWS, deployable pods and mobile mesonets, to collect data during hailstorms. This dedicated team of around 50 researchers and students will be performing research nomadically, moving from storm to storm across the Plains for up to two months, gathering real-time data and conducting ground verifications.
Dr. Josh Wurman, one of the leaders of the FARM team, highlights the importance of fostering early involvement in high-impact research. “FARM plays a critical role in a wide range of atmospheric research projects, and we are training the next generation of observational scientists,” he says, noting how UAH's involvement in large-scale collaborative studies exposes students to cutting-edge research opportunities. These new grants will provide additional opportunities for UAH students to get involved in hands-on research.