Laserfiche WebLink
<br /> <br />Class C3: Cloud systems associated <br />with a tropical air mass moving over <br />Morocco from the south and consisting <br />mainly of altocumulus and altostratus. <br /> <br />Class C2: Relatively isolated <br />convective clouds that are generally <br />associated with post frontal storm <br />events and consist mainly of cumulus <br />congestus. <br /> <br />Class C1: Stratiform cloud system <br />associated with either westerly or <br />northwesterly flow, and possibly <br />containing embedded convection. <br /> <br />Figure 5. Frequency of occurrence of cloud category classifications. <br /> <br />storms are the major cloud and precipitation <br />producers for Morocco, and are the most likely <br />situations when sel~dable conditions are pre- <br />sent. The cloud physics analysis suggests that <br />the post frontal clouds are the most likely to <br />have seedable conditions. More cases, how- <br />ever, are needed to "erify this trend. <br /> <br />5. DISCUSSION <br /> <br />Using 21 cases, the analysis shows a mi- <br />crophysical distinction between the three cat- <br />egories of clouds initially subdivided according <br />to their stability and air mass characteristics. <br />The clouds in category C2 associated with un- <br />stable air have a relatively high frequency of <br />occurrence of high liquid water. and a low fre- <br />quency of high ice particle concentration. This <br />suggests that this category likely contains <br />clouds which have good seedability. Category <br />C3. on the other hand, probably does not have <br />good seedability. Category Cl clouds have <br />moderate seedability, and may benefit from <br />further subdivision to make a clearer <br />distinction between seedable and unseedable <br />portions of these stomlS. <br /> <br />In general, the highest water contents and <br />lowest ice particle concentrations were found <br />in the convective clouds (cumulus congestus) <br />of class C2. When the stonn moves in from <br />the south or southwest (Case C3), the flow <br />tends to parallel the mountain barrier and <br />does not seem to receive enough orographic <br />lifting to produce, significant levels of <br />supercooled water. Flow from the west or <br />northwest (Class Cl), on the other hand. will <br />generally have a significant cross-barrier <br />component to the flow and was often found to <br />produce significant quantities of supercooled <br />water contents. <br /> <br />In order for these results to be more gen- <br />el~al1y applicable, the frequency of occurrence <br />of each of these cloud categories was also de- <br />umnined (see Figure 5). Class C1 occurred <br />most frequently, 67% of the cases; while class <br />C2 occurred 23% of the time. Fortunately, the <br />le,ast seedable case C3 occurred only 10% of <br />the time. <br /> <br />This study is ongoing, and will be updated <br />al; more data are collected. These initial <br />rElsults, however, suggest that the cloud sys- <br />tEims occurring over Morocco are likely to be <br />good candidates for seeding in most cases. <br />Further study needs to be done to extend the <br />sample size and to determine the areal extent <br />and duration of each of these cloud categories. <br /> <br />REFERENCES <br /> <br />Baddour, O. and R. M. Rasmussen, 1988: <br />:Microphysical observations over the Atlas <br />mountains in Morocco. Tenth International <br />Cloud Physics Conference, Bad Homburg, <br />F'RG,IUGG, 15-20 August 1988,356-358. <br /> <br />Bensari, et aI., 1989: Programme AI Ghait _ <br />Design and evaluation of a weather modifi- <br />cation program in Morocco. Fifth WMO Scien- <br />ti.fic Conference on Weather Modification and <br />Applied Cloud Physics, World Meteorological <br />Organization, Geneva. (this volume) <br /> <br />Vall, G.. R. Koenig. and T. Yoksas, 1988: Esti- <br />mate of precipitation enhancement potential <br />for the Duero Basin in Spain. J. AppI. <br />Meteor.. 27,829-850. <br />