Contact Information
Biography
Dr. Trapp is a Professor with 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
External Links
Recent Publications
Borque, P., Nesbitt, S. W., Trapp, R. J., Lasher-Trapp, S., & Oue, M. (2020). Observational Study of the Thermodynamics and Morphological Characteristics of a Midlatitude Continental Cold Pool Event: Monthly Weather Review. Monthly Weather Review, 148(2), 719-737. https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-19-0068.1
Carroll-Smith, D., Dawson, L., & Trapp, R. (2019). High-resolution real-data WRF modeling and verification of tropical cyclone tornadoes associated with Hurricane Ivan (2004). Electronic Journal of Severe Storms Meteorology, 14(1).
Marion, G. R., & Trapp, R. (2019). The Dynamical Coupling of Convective Updrafts, Downdrafts, and Cold Pools in Simulated Supercell Thunderstorms. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(2), 664-683. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD029055
Marion, G. R., Trapp, R. J., & Nesbitt, S. W. (2019). Using Overshooting Top Area to Discriminate Potential for Large, Intense Tornadoes. Geophysical Research Letters, 46(21), 12520-12526. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL084099
Mulholland, J. P., Nesbitt, S. W., & Trapp, R. J. (2019). A case study of terrain influences on upscale convective growth of a supercell. Monthly Weather Review, 147(12), 4305-4324. https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-19-0099.1
