The following database contains objective EDR turbulence observations plotted upon low-earth orbiting (AVHRR and MODIS) and geostationary (GOES-12) satellite observations. The events highlighted below represent those with a number of moderate to severe EDR reports exceeding 2 and 3 standard deviations (SD) above the convective season mean.
The turbulence climatology is split into 4 regions to isolate high-impact events occurring over various portions of the continental U.S. The Julian day (JD) of events exceeding 3 SD are plotted in black. 2 SD events are plotted in red. Reports are accumulated from 1200 UTC on the day listed in the climatology to 1159 UTC the following day. This captures the full diurnal cycle of a convective event, rather than splitting it up into 2 separate days. For example, the 340 moderate to severe turbulence observations listed in Region 1 at JD 142 of year 2006 occurred between 1200 UTC on day 142 and 1159 on day 143.
In column 2, the UTC hour of the turbulence observation is plotted on a base map to show the geographic distribution of turbulence for a given event. Severe reports (peak EDR >= .55) are plotted in red, moderate (.25 <= peak EDR <= .45) are plotted in green, and light (peak EDR=.15) are plotted in blue.
When EDR observations are plotted atop satellite imagery, the symbols represent the following:
- "A"
indicates the aircraft measured temperature was colder than the IR
window (~11 micron) temperature observed by satellite. This
indicates the plane was likely flying above cloud top for
optically thick clouds. Note: This assumption is violated for
semi-transparent cirrus clouds, thus the symbols in these
locations cannot often be trusted.
- "B"
corresponds to aircraft temperatures warmer than the IR window
temperature, indicative of flight below cloud top .
- "I"
corresponds to aircraft temperatures roughly equal to the IR window
temperature, indicative of flight within cloud top.
- "C"
corresponds to aircraft temperatures significantly colder (> 30 K)
than the IR window temperature, indicative of clear sky or very
low cloud conditions beneath the aircraft.
The color code matches that described above, with gray symbols showing smooth flight conditions. Flight level winds (in knots) are also plotted for turbulent observations.
Click here for an in-depth description of this project.
| Region 1 1200 UTC - 1200 UTC 35-45 N, 100-110 W |
Region 2 1200 UTC - 1200 UTC 35-45 N, 90-100 W |
Region 3 1200 UTC - 1200 UTC 35-45 N, 80-90 W |
Region 4 1200 UTC - 1200 UTC 35-45 N, 70-80 W |
