WMOD00307

• Title: A Proposal for Cooperative Weather Research Between the Santa Barbara County Water Agency and the US Department of Interior Bureau of Reclaimation in the Context of the Weather Damage Modification Program through the State of CA 2002-2003 Winter Season
• Date: 10/17/2002
• State: CA
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

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1.3 Design of the 2002-03 Winter Operational Program

For the 2001-02 winter program, NAWC proposed and the county accepted several
modifications to the project design previously used in the conduct of the project. These changes
were suggested to more closely duplicate the earlier Santa Barbara II research program which
was apparently quite successful. Three newly designed automated, high-output ground-based,
flare ignition sites were established at Mt. Lospe, Sudden Peak and Rancho Dos Vistas. These
AHOGS (Automated, High-Output Ground Seeding) sites replace a network of seven ground
based cloud nuclei generators used previously. A specially modified twin engine Beechcraft
Baron aircraft was also used to treat cloud systems (using acetone-silver iodide generators) over
the Pacific Ocean to the west and south of the county. The aircraft was equipped with a GPS
radio-modem that provided aircraft location and altitude information to the project operations
center.

A project-specific weather radar was not utilized on the project in 2001-2002, and is not planned
for 2002-2003. In part because of the close proximity of the complex terrain, a single weather
radar cannot fully cover the entire county. In its place NA WC utilized the real-time radar data
available via the Internet from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NEXRAD
radar sites. Custom radar imagery from WeatherTap was also used to assess precipitation
intensity and wind direction during seeding operations. Radar sites at Vandenberg AFB (VBG)
and Ventura (VTX) provide the coverage necessary to conduct operations. NA WC had special
software developed to overlay the seeding aircraft position and altitude on NEXRAD radar
images. An operations center was established at the Santa Barbara Airport.

A similar design to that used in the 2001-02 program will be adopted for the conduct of the
2002-03 operational program. One month of "ground-based only" seeding will be conducted at
both the beginning and end of the five month operational period (Nov. 15, 2002-Apr.15, 2003)
using the three ground-based seeding sites illustrated in Figure 6. This period coincides with the
climatologically wettest months of the year (Figure 7). The seeding aircraft will be operated from
December 15,2002 through March 15,2003.

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It should be noted that the operational program is run under strict "suspension criteria" which
limit or preclude seeding activities which may cause or exacerbate flooding. These suspension
criteria are established each year and are evaluated based on hydrologic and watershed
conditions. For example reservoir level, soil saturation, and recent bum conditions are factored
in. Since there are no significant bums, soil moisture and reservoirs levels are relatively low,
suspension criteria are anticipated to have minimal affect on the operational program during the
2002-2003 program.

Weather Damage Modification Program 11