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7/28/2009 2:40:10 PM
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Weather Modification
Title
Microphysical Effects of Wintertime Cloud Seeding with Silver Iodide Over the Rocky Mountains - Part I
Date
10/10/1988
Weather Modification - Doc Type
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<br />OcTOBER 1988 <br /> <br />SUPER, BOE, HOLROYD AND HEIMBACH <br /> <br />1149 <br /> <br />the delay times from the counter used over the Grand <br />Mesa ranged from only 27 to 34 s for total counts of <br />500 and 50, respectively. In any event, each estimated <br />plume position should be approximately centered on <br />its actual position so that the analyst knows where to <br />search for enhanced IPC due to seeding. <br />More serious underestimation of the AgI plume can <br />come about from depletion of the AgI itself through <br />scavenging by cloud droplets and by ice particles. Ice <br />particle scavenging is believed to be limited (e.g., Radke <br />et al. 1970), although field observations are scarce. As <br />Flossmann et al. (1985) point out, the efficiencies with <br />which aerosol particles are scavenged, either by nucle- <br />ation or impaction with drops, are not well known. <br />I: Whatever the mechanisms involved, the apparent <br />rapid depletion of AgI shown in Parts II and III in <br />SLW cloud and/or in high IPC zones (which implies <br />SL W at an earlier time) can seriously degrade the <br />acoustical counter's ability to delineate the entry edge <br />of a seeded zone. Nevertheless, finding the core of the <br />AgI plume located within a zone of high IPC strongly <br />suggests that AgI seeding caused the ice particle en- <br />hancement. Conversely, failure to find any AgI within <br />such a high IPC zone might suggest that the IPC max- <br />imum was a natural phenomenon. <br /> <br />e. Seeding generators <br /> <br />All ground-based seeding was done with the Mon- <br />tana State University generator developed and used for <br />the Bridger Range Experiment (Super and Heimbach <br />1983). A 3% by weight AgI solution, complexed with <br />NH4I in acetone, was consumed at 30 g AgI h -I. It <br />was sprayed through a hypodermic needle into a jet of <br />propane, where the solution was atomized prior to <br />consumption in the bum chamber. Calibration of this <br />system by the CSU Cloud Simulation Lab (Garvey <br />1975) showed an output of 6 X 10 13 ice nuclei g -I at <br />-lOoC for natural tunnel draft. This is the appropriate <br />curve to use because all seeding was done at sites with <br />very light winds. Output increased to 3 X 1014 ice nuclei <br />g-I at -l2OC and 7 X 10 14 by -160C. <br />All aircraft seeding was done with the instrumented <br />Turbo Commander upwind of the Grand Mesa. An <br />Aero Systems, Inc. generator was used with a 2% AgI- <br />NH4I-acetone solution, burned at about 80 g AgI h -I. <br />The solution was sprayed into a bum chamber where <br />it was mixed with air and ignited. Generator tests <br />by the same CSU Lab indicated a yield of 5 X 10 14 <br />ice nuclei g-I effective at -lOoC, increasing to near <br />1015 ice nuclei g-l for temperatures between -12 <br />and -20oe. <br /> <br />.f! <br /> <br />f Suiface-based wind and icing rate detectors <br /> <br />Rosemount icing rate detectors designed for tower <br />use were operated during the experiments, in close <br />proximity to heated anemometers and wind vanes. The <br /> <br />icing rate detectors were calibrated in a small wind <br />tunnel in the same manner as the airborne unit dis- <br />cussed in section 3c. Several series of tests were run <br />with (~ach sensor, and individual values were within <br />:t 15% of the series means, which were typically near <br />0.07 g. The mean mass required to initiate a deicing <br />sequence, its cross-sectional area, and the mean wind <br />speed were used to estimate SL W contents, as discussed <br />by Boe and Super (1986). This assumes unity collection <br />efficiency for cloud droplets encountering the 6.35 mm <br />diameter rod of the sensor. Underestimation of actual <br />SL W contents is therefore likely when small droplets <br />are present and winds are light (Hindman 1986). <br />A more serious underestimate is believed to have <br />occurred due to the "lifting" of cloud base above the <br />sensors, at least above the flat-topped Grand Mesa. It <br />was visually observed that cloud base was often above <br />the 70 m tower on the middle of the mesa even when <br />considerably lower on the windward side. A vertically <br />pointing microwave radiometer (not available during <br />the experiments discussed in Part III) detected SL W <br />with more than three times the frequency of the nearby <br />tower..mounted icing rate detector on the Grand Mesa <br />(Super et al. 1986). Similar comparisons were not done <br />on th(~ Bridger Range. Consequently, while detection <br />ofSL W by a tower-mounted probe is a clear indication <br />of the presence of supercooled cloud, the converse is <br />not necessarily true. <br />Tower-mounted Hydro-Tech wind sensors were used <br />on the Grand Mesa. They were robust and internally <br />heated, and performed well under icing conditions. The <br />wind speed sensor on the Bridger Range was operated <br />above heat lamps, whicll were usually sufficient to keep <br />it ice free, although some instances of riming were ob- <br />served. The Bridger Range wind direction sensor was <br />unheated, but no instances were observed in which it <br />did not respond because of riming. <br />Horizontal winds above the surface of the Grand <br />Mesa were measured with an acoustic sounder at 30 <br />m resolution up to 570 m agl. These winds, and es- <br />pecially those measured by a small network of unheated <br />surfacl~ stations around the mesa, generally exhibited <br />significant differences from the ambient winds mea- <br />sured by National Weather Service rawinsondes re- <br />leased from Grand Junction, about 45 km to the <br />WNW. Such terrain-caused distortions are important <br />to the problem of targeting the seeding materials, as <br />discussed in Holroyd et al. (1988). Flow distortions <br />over the Bridger Range were only qualitatively ob- <br />served. <br /> <br />g. Sw:face precipitation measurements <br /> <br />Surface precipitation measurements were made only <br />on the Grand Mesa. A network of 7 Alter-shielded <br />high-msolution gauges were operated through the ex- <br />perimental period. In addition, snow particle charac- <br />teristics were recorded at the "Snow Lab" on the Grand <br />
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