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Dr. Richard Orville


Title Professor and Department Head
Research Interests Director, Cooperative Institute for Applied Meteorological Studies. Severe storms and lightning.
Education Ph. D., University of Arizona
Office Location Room 1204GA, O&M Bldg
Office Phone 979-845-7671
Fax 979-862-4466
E-mail rorville@tamu.edu
Mailing Address Department of Atmospheric Sciences
Texas A&M University
3150 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-3150
richard orville

Research Interests

Severe Storms, Lightning

In cooperation with other faculty, (Drs. Nielsen-Gammon, Carey, Collins and Zhang) we have developed a comprehensive program on the meteorological characteristics of lightning associated with lightning discharges to ground. Our instrumentation base consists of the WSR-88D installations in Texas, access to the National Lightning Detection Network, and a Total Lightning Detection and Ranging system (LDAR II) around Houston, which is an element in the TexAQS (Air Quality Study) II program planned for 2005-2006.

CIAMS

The Cooperative Institute of Applied Meteorological Studies (CIAMS) is one of two National Weather Service Institutes in the Southern Region. This association provides a close research link between Texas A&M University and the National Weather Service. Numerous projects are underway that enable the student to work with NWS personnel. The result is usually a master's or doctoral completion and frequently, employment with the NWS. The current areas of cooperative research include Doppler radar, lightning, severe storms in the Southern Plains, and agriculture.

Selected Publications


Yuan, P, S. S. Kiu, R. E. Orville, Y. J. Zhang, and X. S. Qie, “Spectral properties of lightning return strokes as a function of altitude,” 2003, Geophys. Res. Lett.,. (Submitted).

Steiger, S. and R. E. Orville, 2003, “Cloud-to-ground lightning enhancement over southern Louisiana,” Geophys. Res. Lett., (In Press).

Orville, R. E., G. R. Huffines, W. R. Burrows, R. L. Holle, and K. L. Cummins, 2002, “The North American Lightning Detection Network (NALDN) - First Results: 1998-2000,” Mon. Wea. Rev., 130, 8, 2098-2109.

Steiger, S., R. Orville, and G. Huffines, 2002, “Cloud-to-ground lightning characteristics over Houston, Texas: 1989-2000,” J. Geophys. Res. 107, D11, 10.1029/2001JD001142.

Bond, D., S. Steiger, R. Zhang, S. Tie, and R. E. Orville, 2002, “The importance of NOx production by lightning in the tropics,” Atmos. Environment., 36, 1509-1519.

Bond, D. W., R. Zhang, X. Tie, G. Brasseur, G. Huffines, R. Orville, and D. Boccippio, 2001, “NOx production by lightning over the continental United States,” J. Geophys. Res., 106, D21, 27,701-27,710.

Orville, R. E., G. R. Huffines, J. Nielsen-Gammon, R. Zhang, B. Ely, S. Steiger, S. Phillips, S. Allen, and W. Read, 2001, “Enhancement of cloud-to-ground lightning over Houston, Texas,” Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, No. 13, 2597-2600.

Orville, R. E. and G. R. Huffines, 2001, “Cloud-to-ground lightning in the USA: NLDN results in the first decade 1989-1998,” Mon. Wea. Rev., 129, No. 5, 1179-1193.

Murray, N. D., R. E. Orville, and G. R. Huffines, 2000, “Effect of pollution from Central American fires on cloud-to-ground lightning,” Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, (15), August 1, 2000, 2249-2252.

Nesbitt, S. W., R. Zhang, and R. Orville, 2000: “Seasonal and global NOx production by lightning estimated from the Optical Transient Detector (OTD),’ Tellus, Series B, 52, (5), 1206-1215..

Zhang, R. N. T. Sanger, R. Orville, X. Tie, W. Randel and E. R. Williams, March 1, 2000, “Enhances NOx by lightning in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere inferred from the UARS global NO2 measurements,” Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, No. 5, 685-688.

Orville, R. E. 1999: "Comments on large peak cloud-to-ground lightning flashes during the summer months in the contiguous United States," Mon. Wea. Rev., 127, No. 8, 1937-1938..

Orville, R. E. and G. R. Huffines, 1999: "Lightning ground flash measurements over the contiguous United States: 1995-1997," Mon. Wea. Rev., 127 No. 11, 2693-2703.

Gremillion, M. and R. E. Orville, 1999: "Thunderstorm characteristics of cloud-to-ground lightning at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida: A study of lightning initiation signatures as indicated by the WSR-88D radar," Wea. Forecasting, 14, 640-649.

Huffines, G. and R. E. Orville, 1999: "Lightning ground flash density and thunderstorm duration in the continental United States: 1989-96" J. Appl. Meteor, 38, 7, 1013-1019.

Wacker, R. S. and R. E. Orville, 1999: "Changes in measured lightning flash count and return stroke peak current after the 1994 U. S. National Lightning Detection Network upgrade; Part I: Observations," J. Geophys. Res., 104, D2, January 27, 19,791-2151-2157.

Wacker, R. S. and R. E. Orville, 1999: "Changes in measured lightning flash count and return stroke peak current after the 1994 U. S. National Lightning Detection Network upgrade; Part II: Theory," J. Geophys. Res., 104, D2, January 27, 2159-2162.

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