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Cloud Patterns and Atmospheric Fluid Dynamics
Problem: How does wind shear affect the formation of clouds? Clouds can be organized into various patterns, and the ways in which they organize themselves are not yet fully understood. One mechanism for cloud organization involves gravity waves: When clouds form, they excite gravity waves that propagate away from the cloud; these gravity waves can then excite the formation of new clouds, and this process can repeat. The main focus of this project is to understand how wind shear affects this process. For instance, wind shear can make it more likely that the new clouds form to the east rather than the west of the old cloud. These effects can be modeled with some differential equations of atmospheric fluid dynamics. There are three open projects on these topics. Prerequisites: (1) At least one course on ordinary differential equations, and (2) experience with a programming language such as Matlab, Fortran, or C++ |