2023 GOES Virtual Science Fair Top Projects
High School: 1st Place
Title: Verifying Flash Flood Advisory Boundary Locations using GOES-16 ABI Imagery: A Case Study of Tropical Storm Beta (2020)
Akshay Kapur from Bellaire High School, Bellaire, Texas
Coach: Jimmy Newland
Abstract: With an increasing amount of severe flash floods worldwide, meteorologists are seeking more efficient and accurate ways to issue warnings to populations. Despite the increasing coverage of Doppler radar networks, large parts of the world still lack these valuable instruments to track storms and measure precipitation rates. Although satellite products to calculate precipitation rates in these areas including the GOES Rainfall Rate/Quantitative Precipitation Estimation product do somewhat assist meteorologists in determining flash flood advisory boundaries, this study focuses on an extrapolation-based method to determine relative rainfall amounts. This is fueled by the growing presence of weather stations on the ASOS network worldwide. Based on satellite data at an ASOS station with a known amount of rainfall, we can determine whether flash flood conditions are occurring at a nearby location. In this study, we explored the correlations of GOES ABI data with rainfall totals over a one-hour period. This can compound and serve as verification for traditional radar-based estimates. Using imagery from GOES-16 ABI bands, I examined a situation in the Houston metropolitan area with two nearby ASOS stations with a significant difference in one hour rainfall.
High School: Honorable Mentions
Title: Using GOES-16 Products to Analyze Convective Turbulence: A Case Study of the March 2023 Lufthansa Event
Jesse Zhong from Gilman School, Baltimore, Maryland
Coach: Dr. Ken Pryor
Title: Buffalo Bomb Cyclone
Poyraz Ozer, Ziqin Chen, Christopher Samuels, and Rishi Amaravadi from Friends’ Central School STEM Club, Wynnewood, PA
Coach: Christopher Guides
Middle School: 1st Place
Title: GOES-16 ABI Band 2 and 13 and Product Sandwich RGB Useful in Analyzing Thunderstorms
Lucas Perrone from Medford Memorial Middle School, Medford, New Jersey
Coach: Vicky Gorman
Middle School: Honorable Mentions
Title: Hurricanes and Their Past Destructiveness Compared to the Recent Past
Carsten Drury, Maximillian Meyer, and Benjaman Gurch from Beacon Hill Middle School, Decatur, Georgia
Coaches: Beverly Beyer and Jessica Nicks
Title: GOES-17 ABI Bands 1 and 2 (RGB) Useful in Analyzing Atmospheric Weather Patterns and Precipitation
Elise Preston from Medford Memorial Middle School, Medford, New Jersey
Coach: Vicky Gorman
