Heather Vazquez attends Florida International University where she is a senior
majoring in Geoscience with an Atmospheric Track. Her mentor at CMMAP for the
summer was Professor Russ Schumacher. Heather analyzed atmospheric conditions
favorable for MCVs that produce heavy precipitation against those that produce
little to no precipitation.
A Mesoscale Convective Vortex (MCV) is a low pressure center found within a
Mesoscale Convective System (MCS). Many times after the antecedent MCS
dissipates, the MCV can assume its own identity and become the
source for convection initiation the following day. When environmental
conditions are favorable, an MCV can persist several days through multiple MCS
cycles. Such a case is known as an MCV event.
Heather took six MCV cases lasting more than four days and used IDL and GrADS to
analyze these to draw a number of conclusions regarding precipitation generated
by these long-lasting MCVs.
Heather's results may be found in her research poster,
Variability of Heavy Precipitation by Long-Lived Mesoscale Convective Vortice
Found in the Southern Plains.
Heather is from Miramar, FL. She is interested in concentric eyewall
replacement cycles in hurricanes and synoptic and mesoscale systems. When she
is not involved in her studies, she enjoys spending time with family and
friends, photography, reading, stargazing and singing at her church.
|
