2017英特尔ISEF获奖作品摘要 地球与环境科学 Intel Finalist Abstract Earth and Environmental Sciences

获奖作品基本信息

年份	2017
学科	地球与环境科学 Earth and Environmental Sciences
国家/州	United States of America

获奖作品名称

Using Dropsonde Descending Speed to Determine Vertical Air Velocity in a Hurricane

获奖作品摘要

The objective of this project is to derive the vertical air currents in hurricanes using a physics-based model to describe the dropsonde fall speed in still air. By assuming that the dropsonde falls at terminal velocity and in a vertical disposition in still air, a physics model can be constructed to calculate the still air fall speed. The vertical air velocity is the difference between the actual fall speed of the dropsonde and its fall speed in still air. 

The drag coefficient for calculating terminal velocity was determined empirically by searching for the best-fit fall speed in an altitude range that can be approximated as still air. For this entire project, I wrote MATLAB codes for model calculation, data analyses, and graphics. All data was taken from publicly available online sources (i.e. NOAA) or was provided by the Naval Research Lab in Monterey. 

A total of 291 dropsonde measurements of Hurricane Joaquin were analyzed. The terminal velocity model fit 260 of them, or about 89%. The resultant drag coefficients from each sounding were used to derive the vertical air velocity from each sounding.  

Two factors affecting the accuracy of the derived vertical velocity were also examined -- the range of altitudes used to optimize the drag coefficient to simulate the drop speed in still air and the tilting and tumbling of the dropsonde that change the vertical cross-section area. It was found that large errors may be associated with cases with extreme winds in the hurricane, while the majority of the cases show consistent drag coefficients throughout the measurement depth. Soundings in close proximity to each other also show consistent features of updraft and downdraft, indicating that the derived vertical velocity is physically consistent.

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ISEF 简介

英特尔国际科学与工程大奖赛，简称 "ISEF"，由美国 Society for Science and the Public（科学和公共服务协会）主办，英特尔公司冠名赞助，是全球规模最大、等级最高的中学生的科研科创赛事。ISEF 的学术活动学科包括了所有数学、自然科学、工程的全部领域和部分社会科学。ISEF 素有全球青少年科学学术活动的“世界杯”之美誉，旨在鼓励学生团队协作，开拓创新，长期专一深入地研究自己感兴趣的课题。

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英特尔 ISEF 学术活动详细介绍

英特尔 ISEF 全程指导方案

· 数学 · 物理 · 化学 · 生物 · 计算机 · 工程 ·

学科简介：地球与环境科学

Category: Earth and Environmental Sciences

Studies of the environment and its effect on organisms/systems, including investigations of biological processes such as growth and life span, as well as studies of Earth systems and their evolution.

Subcategories:

Atmospheric Science (AIR): The study of the Earth's atmosphere, its processes, the effects other systems have on the atmosphere, and the effects of the atmosphere on these other systems as well as meteorological investigations. Further investigation in this field relates to atmospheric chemistry, atmospheric physics, atmospheric changes (both long and short-term) that define average climates and their change over time, and upper layers of the atmosphere, where dissociation and ionization are important.

Climate Science (CLI): Studies of Earth’s climate, particularly evidential study of climate change over a period of time.  This field studies long-term trends in average meteorological conditions and changes in these averaged conditions from season to season, year to year, decade to decade.

Environmental Effects on Ecosystems (ECS): Studies of the impact of environmental changes (natural or as a result of human interaction) on ecosystems, including empirical pollution studies.

Geosciences (GES): Studies of Earth’s land processes, including mineralogy, plate tectonics, volcanism, and sedimentology.

Water Science (WAT): Studies of Earth’s water systems, including water resources, movement, distribution, and water quality. This field includes the occurrence, movement, abundance, distribution, and quality of subsurface waters and related geologic aspects of surface waters. Furthermore, it projects may also address water from the moment of precipitation until it evaporates into the atmosphere or is discharged into the ocean; for example, river systems and the impacts of flooding.

Other (OTH): Studies that cannot be assigned to one of the above subcategories. If the project involves multiple subcategories, the principal subcategory should be chosen instead of Other.