Contact Information
Biography
Dr. Trapp is a Professor and Head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Before joining Illinois in 2014, he was a Professor in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Purdue University from 2003-2014, and a research scientist with the National Severe Storms Laboratory (through the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies) in Norman, Oklahoma from 1996-2003. Four years of his tenure with NSSL were spent as a visiting scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado.
Dr. Trapp's research interests include the dynamics and observations of mesoscale convective systems, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes; mesoscale modeling and predictability.
Trapp received his B.S. degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, M.S. degree from Texas A&M University, and Ph.D. degree from the University of Oklahoma. He was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow.
Education
- Ph.D. in Meteorology, The University of Oklahoma, 1994
- M.S. in Meteorology, Texas A&M University, 1989
- B.S. in Agriculture/Atmospheric Science, University of Missouri-Columbia, 1985
Additional Campus Affiliations
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
Director, School of Earth, Society, and Environment
External Links
Recent Publications
Hong, Y., Nesbitt, S., Trapp, R., & Di Girolamo, L. (2023). Near-global distributions of overshooting tops derived from Terra and Aqua MODIS observations. Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, 16(5), 1391-1406. https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1391-2023
Sessa, M. F., & Trapp, R. J. (2023). Environmental and Radar-Derived Predictors of Tornado Intensity within Ongoing Convective Storms. Journal of Operational Meteorology, 11, 49-71. https://doi.org/10.15191/nwajom.2023.1105
Woods, M. J., Trapp, R. J., & Mallinson, H. M. (2023). The Impact of Human-Induced Climate Change on Future Tornado Intensity as Revealed Through Multi-Scale Modeling. Geophysical Research Letters, 50(15), Article e2023GL104796. https://doi.org/10.1029/2023GL104796
Goodnight, J. S., Chehak, D. A., & Trapp, R. J. (2022). Quantification of QLCS Tornadogenesis, Associated Characteristics, and Environments across a Large Sample. Weather and Forecasting, 37(11), 2087-2105. https://doi.org/10.1175/waf-d-22-0016.1
Lasher-Trapp, S., Jo, E., Allen, L. R., Engelsen, B. N., & Trapp, R. J. (2021). Entrainment in a Simulated Supercell Thunderstorm. Part I: The Evolution of Different Entrainment Mechanisms and Their Dilutive Effects. Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences, 78(9), 2725-2740. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-20-0223.1