Hail causes major damages in Australia, but predicting its occurrence and how it may be affected by climate change present challenges. For severe thunderstorms that form hail to occur, certain “ingredients” must be present: the atmosphere must be unstable and so prone to forming updrafts, there must be moisture available, and winds that differ by height can make the thunderstorm more severe. Further, the temperature of the atmosphere affects how much hail melts as it falls. In this project, the student will use high-resolution data to examine the state of the atmosphere in Australia over the last four decades, and produce maps showing hail boundary conditions – that is, where and when hail could or could not occur.
To apply: the Undergraduate Scholarship application form can be found here.
Requirements: Some python programming experience required.
Availability: Any time.
Supervisor: Tim Raupach
This project will be based at UNSW.