WMOD00318

• Title: A Cooperative Project Between the Kingdom of Morocco and the United States
• Date: 9/1/1989
• Country: United States, Morocco
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

xii

I
I
I
I
1
I
1
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I
I

refinement of software and data bases for the display and processing of information. Larger
data samples and better stratification of events into homogeneous samples are needed to draw
sound scientific conclusions.

Research results should be published in scientific journals and presented at professional
meetings. Presentation of results to other Moroccan water resources experts will help them
to understand the conditions that may produce opportunities for precipitation enhancement
and subsequent improvements in water resources. Presentations to the international scientific
community will improve the general understanding of the physical processes of precipitation
in northwest Africa and the potential for weather modification in that region, so other nations
may benefit from Morocco's experience. More general studies from the Programme AI Ghait
data sets may lead also to better weather forecasting and understanding of the structufe of
storm systems in that region.

Specific scientific data collection and studies recommended for the project include the
following:

. Studies of the radar and satellite data should be expanded to describe the
mesosynoptic physical characteristics of precipitation events in Morocco. These
results should then be combined with the cloud microphysical observations and
numerical modeling simulations to better understand the physical mechanisms that
cause precipitation in Morocco. Radar data collection and quality control should
continue in accordance with the Operations Plan through 1993.

· Additional data collection and analyses are needed in the areas of cloud physics and
statistical evaluation. These data should be collected from 1989 to 1993 in order to
continue existing analyses and provide required expanded sample sizes.

. Statistical-physical evaluation techniques that deal with the large natural variations
of precipitation in the target and control areas need further study. The search for
covariates for the statistical evaluation should be expanded to at least further
exploration of the use of the Rhea model. This research will require continued effort
and careful analysis. The numerical modeling work of Mr. El Majdoub and
Mr. Abidi should be continued to better quantify the precipitation and runoff
received in Morocco and lend support to other studies that are dealing with the
physical mechanisms of the precipitation process.

3. The United States should continue involvement in the project. - Continued American
participation in the project was recommended by the Final External Evaluation Report and
the Annual Monitoring Report in 1989. Those reports recommended continued involvement
for at least the next 4 years until a sound scientific result can be obtained.

The United States should look for ways to support continued scientific collaboration after the
end of the current. USAID project to ensure that sound scientific results'can be obtained over
the next 4 years. This assistance would consist of: