WMOD00272 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

~ :::: ~ Environmental compliance and public awareness maintenance 4.3. Seeding Operations and Data Collection The design phase will produce the computer software that is used to conduct the operational cloud seeding. Based on established criteria, the software will determine if conditions are met for seeding and proceed to instruct field equipment to initiate cloud treatment. The software will verify that equipment has responded and report the status of operations. Data collection during the operational phase will be determined at the completion of the design phase. It is expected that in addition to data collected at the seeding sites, data will continually be obtained from several instrumented towers installed at high elevations of the Headwaters Region main barriers. Data from these towers will be used to assist in determining seeding conditions. It may be necessary for environmental compliance and seeding criteria performance checks that some periodic tracer work and snow sample collection be conducted. This will provide confidence that clouds are being seeded and that results indicated in precipitation data are caused by cloud treatment. The data collection issue for the operational phase must be viewed in light of results (uncertainty and variability) from cloud modeling and design phase field tests. 4.4. Estimation of Operational Seeding Costs Section 4.2 lists some of the prominent tasks of conducting operational cloud seeding. Each task will require costly resources for accomplishment. Other costs include those for annual seeding materials that for propane release are estimated at about $175,000 per season. Table 4.1 gives year-by-year operational project costs for a 10-year seeding period. Yearly cost estimates beyond the first year include a 3 percent inflation factor. Table 4.1 .lists annual costs for seeding equipment installation and removal. All other costs are combined into a single table value for each operational field season. Table 4.2 gives a breakdown of costs for the first operational year. Upon completion of the design phase, a revised set of operational costs will be developed for each program component. The first-year operational cost is estimated at $1,025,320, and the cost for the tenth year is $1,329,899. Table 4.2 shows a 10-year cost of operations of$11,715,638. Assuming 55 cloud treatment devices are installed in the Headwaters Region, the average annual cost of operations per seeding device is $21,301.16. This figure includes costs for seeding materials, automatic data collection, annual data analysis, operational cloud seeding (largely automated), equipment removal (when necessary) and maintenance, weather forecasting and monitoring, cloud modeling, periodic evaluation of seeding results, project management and oversight, environmental compliance, and public involvement. Data costs for environmental compliance are included in technician support costs. Estimates cannot be met if automation is not fully implemented. Costs do not include any observations by aircraft, or local scanning radar. Partnering with other agencies and groups will be pursued and may help maintain costs at manageable levels. The figures given here do not assume annual assistance from partnering. 4.5. Estimate of Operational Seeding Benefits Estimates of additional water benefits and operational costs were developed assuming that cloud treatment would be conducted primarily over the western and eastern barriers surrounding the North Park of north-central Colorado. Additional water estimates depend on the areal coverage by the seeding device network. The sample seeding device placement selected for developing additional water estimates was developed by Holroyd (unpublished internal Reclamation memo, 2000) and is shown in .21