The Ontario Winter Lake-effect Systems (OWLeS) was a field project focused on three modes of

lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...

: Short- fetch, long-fetch, and downstream

coastal A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

and

orographic Orography is the study of the topographic relief of mountains, and can more broadly include hills, and any part of a region's elevated terrain. Orography (also known as ''oreography'', ''orology,'' or ''oreology'') falls within the broader disc ...

effects. The project was conducted along

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

in the

Great Lakes region The Great Lakes region of Northern America is a binational Canadian– American region centered on the Great Lakes that includes the U.S. states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and the Ca ...

and in the

Finger Lakes region The Finger Lakes are a group of eleven long, narrow, roughly north–south lakes located directly south of Lake Ontario in an area called the ''Finger Lakes region'' in New York, in the United States. This region straddles the northern and tra ...

of upstate

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. OWLeS occurred in two field phases, one in December 2013 and another in January 2014. The project is a collaborative effort of nine universities and the Center for Severe Weather Research and is funded by the

National Science Foundation (NSF) The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is ...

Principal investigators

David Kristovich David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

, adjunct associate professor, director of Atmospheric Sciences Group,

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

*Bart Geerts, associate professor,

University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...

*Richard Clark, department chairman and professor of meteorology,

Millersville University Millersville University of Pennsylvania (commonly known as Millersville University, The Ville, or MU) is a public university in Millersville, Pennsylvania. It is one of the ten schools that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Educa ...

Jeffrey Frame Jeffrey W. Frame is an American atmospheric scientist and professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is known for observational and modeling studies of severe convective storms and for teaching meteorology. He was a scientist ...

, clinical assistant professor, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign *Neil Laird, associate professor of Atmospheric Science,

Hobart and William Smith Colleges Hobart and William Smith Colleges is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Geneva, New York. They trace their origins to Geneva Academy established in 1797. Students can choose from ove ...

*Kevin Knupp, professor,

University of Alabama in Huntsville The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is a public research university in Huntsville, Alabama, United States. The university is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and comprises eight colleges: arts, humanities ...

Joshua Wurman Joshua Michael Aaron Ryder Wurman (born October 1, 1960) is an American atmospheric scientist and inventor noted for tornado, tropical cyclone, and weather radar research, the invention of Doppler On Wheels, DOW and bistatic radar multiple-Dopple ...

, president, Center for Severe Weather Research *

Karen Kosiba Karen Kosiba is an American atmospheric scientist and professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who operated Doppler on Wheels (DoW) instruments used to gather data on tornadoes and other severe weather. Education Kosiba receiv ...

, research scientist, Center for Severe Weather Research *Nicholas Metz, assistant professor of Geosciences, Hobart and William Smith Colleges *Todd Sikora, professor, Millersville University *Jim Steenburgh, professor,

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

*Scott Steiger, associate professor,

State University of New York at Oswego State University of New York at Oswego (SUNY Oswego or Oswego State) is a public university in Oswego, New York. It has a total student population of 6,756 and the campus size is 700 acres. SUNY Oswego offers more than 120 undergraduate, graduate ...

*Justin Minder, assistant professor,

State University of New York at Albany The State University of New York at Albany (University at Albany, UAlbany, or SUNY Albany) is a public research university in Albany, New York, United States. Founded in 1844, it is one of four "university centers" of the State University of N ...

*George Young, professor,

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.owles.org/ Meteorology research and field projects Lake Ontario Great Lakes