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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />ABSTRACT <br /> <br />- <br />Analyses of data collected during the 1991 Utah/NOAA Research Field Program are <br />described. The Desert Research Institute had primary responsibility for describing the evolution <br />of supercooled liquid water over the Wasatch Plateau, and comparing the results of liquid water <br />studies with results from similar work in the Tushar Mountains of southern Utah. A new <br />technique of data collection using a mobile microwave radiometer is described and results of <br />numerous experiments are presented. The storms that occurred during the 1991 Field Program <br />are described in terms of their synoptic characteristics, the evolution of locally measured <br />meteorological variables, and cloud characteristics as observed by ground-based and satellite <br />remote sensing platforms. Preliminary results of one experiment which made use of a spectral <br />radiometer on the NASA ER-2 research aircraft are also presented. <br />Fourteen storm periods were identified, with the majority developing in northerly or <br />northwesterly upper level flow due to the persistent presence of a high pressure ridge in the <br />vicinity of the West Coast during much of January and February 1991. Several storms in March <br />developed in warmer and wetter southwesterly flow. Supercooled liquid water showed a slight <br />preference for prefrontal occurrence, but not as predominantly as during prior Utah/NOAA field <br />seasons in the Tushar Mountains. <br />~~per~~~ liqui~..~~~._1E.ost fr~~~~x.observed. ~h~Il._mgHJltNntOl! and cloJ!{ljL la~.!- <br />winds were southwesterlxJqJ!2!th~!~!.!X' .The largest liquid depths occurred with winds from <br />240-2700. Similar to results from other geographic areas, the vertical location of liquid over the <br />Wasatch Plateau was typically within two kilometers of the underlying terrain, and within a <br />temperature range of 00 to -100 C. The largest radiometric liquid depths were measured <br />coincidently with the warmest temperatures at the tops of sounding saturated layers. In the <br />absence of valley-based stable layers or inversions, it appeared that seeding material from <br />ground-based generators could be transported to the SL W region of clouds because of its <br />proximity to the terrain, but that the material would frequently encounter temperatures that were <br />not conducive to nucleation by standard AgI seeding agents. <br />Supercooled liquid flux was computed from radiometer liquid and mountaintop winds <br />(adjusted to simulate cloud layer winds). About 86% of the total seasonal flux was contained <br />in the five largest storms. Total precipitation and total liquid flux were found to be weakly <br />linearly correlated. <br />Radiometer scans and mobile radiometer experiments provided more detailed information <br />on the spatial distribution of supercooled liquid water than has been possible in prior <br /> <br />111 <br />