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.
Research Interests
Dr. Trapp's research interests include the dynamics and observations of mesoscale convective systems, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes; mesoscale modeling and predictability.
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
Head, Atmospheric Sciences
Professor, Atmospheric Sciences
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
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
Nesbitt, S. W., Salio, P. V., Ávila, E., Bitzer, P., Carey, L., Chandrasekar, V., Deierling, W., Dominguez, F., Dillon, M. E., Garcia, C. M., Gochis, D., Goodman, S., Hence, D. A., Kosiba, K. A., Kumjian, M. R., Lang, T., Luna, L. M., Marquis, J., Marshall, R., ... Grover, M. A. (2021). A storm safari in subtropical South America: Proyecto RELAMPAGO. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 102(8), E1621-E1644. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-20-0029.1
Raupach, T. H., Martius, O., Allen, J. T., Kunz, M., Lasher-Trapp, S., Mohr, S., Rasmussen, K. L., Trapp, R. J., & Zhang, Q. (2021). The effects of climate change on hailstorms. Nature Reviews Earth and Environment, 2(3), 213-226. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-020-00133-9