WMOD00276

• Contract/Permit #: 85-5071
• Title: Cooperative Weather Modification Research Program - 1985 Field Operations Plan
• Date: 1/1/1985
• State: UT
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

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1. Introduction

Winter orographic clouds have been identified for some time (Grant
and Kahan, 1974) as likely candidates for snowfall augmentation through
cloud seeding. The State of Utah operational snowfall augmentation pro-
ject presents an opportunity for gatheroing research information for
improving future such seeding projects. In response to this opportunity
and in agreement with recommendations of the Weather Modification
Advisory Board (1978), the Nationall Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) initiated a cooperative program of weather modifi-
cation research involving itself, the State of Utah, and local govern-
mental bodies.
Research under this cooperative program has been conducted in the

Tushar Mtns area near Beaver, Utah in rec:ent years as an adjunct to the

State of Utah operational project. An initial field effort was con-

ducted by the Utah State University WatE~r Research Laboratory during

February and March, 1981. Results of that preliminary research (Hill,

1982) were that significant amounts of supercooled liquid water were

present in the clouds and that most trcljectories of precipitation par-

ticles forming from this water would intersect the mountain.

A second field effort was conducted by the Utah Department of

Natural Resources Division of Water Resources (UDWR) from 15 January to

15 March, 1983. UDWR was prime contractor and other groups with

appropriate expertise provided scientific and technical assistance

through sub-contracts (Griffith et~. (19:83), Henderson (1983), Rauber

and Grant (1983), Sassen (1983) and Stone (1983)). Results of that

research (Long, 1984) were that the amount of liquid water in the clouds

increases from a position 5-10 km west of the western base of the

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