WMOD00409

• Contract/Permit #: 1-07-81-V0175
• Title: State of Montana Activities in the High Plains Cooperative Program: 1981-1983
• Date: 6/30/1983
• State: MT
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION

A. MONTANA DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND CONSERVATION HIPLEX BACKGROUND

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The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) entered
into a Cooperative Agreement with the U. S. Bureau of Reclamation (BR) on 28
August 1974 to participate in the High Plains Cooperative Experiment (HIPLEX).
The original contract terminated on 30 April 1981. The activities and
accomplishments of the first contract, (No. 14,-06-D-7577) appeared in a final
report (Knudsen, et al., 1981). Subsequent to the initial cooperative effort a
second agreement was made between the same agencies to continue the HIPLEX
research and associated activities. The latter cooperative agreement (Contract
No. 1-07-81-V017S) was negotiated for the period of 8 May 1981 through 30
September 1982.

During DNRC's initial HIPLEX participation, major program effort included
the establishment and operation of raingage networks and associated rainfall
measurement investigations and climatological studies. Another significant
DNRC role included the design, operation, and assessment of a simulated
modified rainfall regime on native rangeland ecosystems of the Northern High
Plains. DNRC was also responsible for public information, clerical and office
management, and preliminary shakedown of PROBE (~ortable Kemote Observation of
the ].nvironment) units for CCOPE (~ooperative Convective R,recipitation
].xperiment) .

During the latter stages of the first contract period, the termination of
the HIPLEX program was being proposed. The ongoing DNRC ecosystem impact
analyses schedule was altered to accommodate completion without further field
data collection. The PROBE mesonet objectives were changed to serve as a major
data resource and support facility for CCOPE investigations.

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Before HIPLEX termination, the rangeland ecosystem impact studies and PROBE
mesonet intentions were proposed to accommodate the feasibility of using
detailed experimental designs and extensive data collection. However, the
curtailed HIPLEX schedule dictated that the impact analyses would conclude with
existing data resources; also PROBE mesonet objectives would not address the
RIPLEX uncertainties, but would work towards resolution of some of the broader
CCOPE concerns. More specifically, the experimentally designed mesonet
analyses were abbrevioated to address limited case-study reviews. Consequently,
the DNRC-planned activities were modified during the latter phases of the first
cooperative agreement to meet the altered HIPLEX research schedule.

B. GENERAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

DNRC had completed the majority of the PROBE mesonet equipment preparation,
site installation, and instrument calibration exercises during the first
cooperative agreement.. The data collection for the ecosystem impact studies
concluded with the close of the 1980 field season. Basic to the DNRC HIPLEX
objectives for the second cooperative agreement were:

(1) To prepare and analyze data from a large network of PROBE weather
stations to determine predictors and covariates of mesoscale convection.

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