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Last modified
7/28/2009 2:40:10 PM
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4/23/2008 1:57:46 PM
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Weather Modification
Title
Microphysical Effects of Wintertime Cloud Seeding with Silver Iodide Over the Rocky Mountains - Part II
Date
10/10/1988
Weather Modification - Doc Type
Report
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<br />OcrOBER 1988 <br /> <br />ARLIN B. SUPER AND JAMES A. HEIMBACH, JR. <br /> <br />1155 <br /> <br />Rosemount icing rate detector data were obtained <br />during 659 h of January 1985 (85 h data are missing <br />due to equipment malfunctions). Icing events were re- <br />corded during 9% of all hours with data (the corre- <br />sponding percentage values for February and March <br />1985 were 8% and 7%, respectively). The January me- <br />dian calculated SL W content for hours with icing on <br />the Main Ridge was 0.035 g m -3. As discussed in Part <br />I, observations from this type of sensor are often <br />underestimates. Main Ridge temperatures ranged from <br />- 3 0 to -11 oC during icing events, with a median of <br />-8.50e. <br />Most January icing occurred when winds were west- <br />erly at the Crest Observatory. However, during these <br />periods, light and either northerly or variable winds <br />were usually observed at the seeding site. This suggests <br />either a general dispersion of the AgI prior to transport <br />over the Main Ridge and/ or southward drift of portions <br />of the plume. Either would result in enhanced hori- <br />zontal dispersion. <br />Six successful in-cloud research flights were flown <br />in a wide variety of SL W conditions: one on 10 Jan <br />(in limited SLW), two on 15 Jan (in abundant SLW), <br />another on 19 Jan (with SLW only above the AgI <br />plume), and the final two on 28 Jan (in virtually all- <br />ice clouds). <br />"The afternoon mission of 15 Jan is presented in detail <br />to illustrate evaluation techniques and results. Other <br />missions, although analyzed in similar fashion, are dis- <br />cussed more briefly. Section 5 summarizes the results <br />of all six missions and presents for each mission sup- <br />porting information, including atmospheric stability, <br />cloud top height and temperature, and Main Ridge <br />temperature. Further supporting information on winds <br />is given in section 6. <br /> <br />a. 15 Jan, p.m. <br /> <br />At 50 kPa a low was centered over northern Hudson <br />Bay, and the associated trough extended southward to <br />Florida. A second deep low layover the Baja Peninsula. <br />The resulting flow aloft over the Bridger Range was <br />northwesterly, with weak positive vorticity advection. <br />Snow began early in the morning over the Bridger <br />Range and gradually decreased during the afternoon. <br />A pibal released from the seeding site at 1223 was lost <br />within cloud only 100 m aboveground as it drifted to- <br />ward the Main Ridge. The obscured ceiling over the <br />seeding site gradually improved to overcast by the end <br />of the mission. <br />The Main Ridge crest remained in cloud for the <br />mission duration. The aircraft was also in cloud over <br />both the BR T A and Main Ridge up to 3.6 km altitude, <br />the highest flown during this mission. A complete up- <br />wind sounding was precluded by other air trafffic, but <br />cloud tops were observed at 4.6 km (-21 OC) over the <br />BRTA on the morning mission. <br /> <br />Mean hourly SLW values of 0.04-0.05 g m-3 were <br />derived from the icing rate detector atop the Main <br />Ridge during this mission, greater than all but one Jan- <br />uary day. Winds at the Crest Observatory were 8-10 <br />m S-1 from 2700, and the temperature was -90e. Ac- <br />cording to SH, significant nucleation should have oc- <br />curred within the AgI plume over the Main Ridge in <br />these conditions, and the resulting ice crystals, along <br />with any remaining AgI, should have been transported <br />toward the BR T A. <br />After taking off at 1241, the aircraft climbed around <br />the south end of the Bridger Range to Livingston (Fig. <br />1). Winds of 2900 at 10 m s -1 were observed at the <br />seeding generator altitude (2.2 km). The wind in- <br />creased to 14 m S-I from 2850 at 3.0 km. Slight stability <br />was indicated by dOe/ dz of 0.8 K km -1 through this <br />layer, where Oe is the equivalent potential temperature. <br />Supercooled liquid water of about 0.05 g m -3 was <br />encountered on climbout from 2.2 km altitude and 9 <br />km south of the seeding site until leveling out at 3.3 <br />km over the south end of the BR T A. Amounts were <br />then generally 0.1 to 0.2 g m -3 approaching the Liv- <br />ingston area. <br />The first N-S pass over the BR T A began at 1258 at <br />3.3 km altitude and -l30e. Almost continuous SLW <br />in the range 0.05-0.15 g m -3 was found from 20 km <br />north to 16 km south of the seeding site latitude (SSL) <br />shown in Fig. 1. Limited zones of similar magnitude <br />were found further north. The only significant ice was <br />encountered south of the SSL in concentrations less <br />than 4 L -I, and no AgI was detected. However, the <br />seeding generator had been on for only 0.5 h, which <br />was probably inadequate for the plume to have traveled <br />the 17 km downwind. <br />Pairs of passes were next flown at 3.0 and 2.85 km <br />altitudes. Nine additional passes followed at 2.7 km <br />between 1350 and 1515, as will be discussed. <br />A sounding was made in the Livingston vicinity <br />about 1520. Cloud base was at 2.8 km, and SLW was <br />recorded from that level to the top of the sounding at <br />3.6 km. The sounding was stable, as indicated by a <br />mean lapse rate dOe/ dz of 2.3 K km -1 through the <br />layer. As much as 0.20-0.25 g m -3 SL W was measured <br />between 3.3 and 3.5 km, which may have resulted in <br />part from upslope flow against the mountains SE of <br />Livingston. <br />The aircraft returned to base along the SSL at 3.6 <br />km altitude until 9 km east of the seeding site, where <br />descent commenced. From 45 to 26 km east of the <br />seeding site, SL Won the order of 0.05-0. 10 g m -3 was <br />encountered, after which no SL W was found until18.5 <br />km east, almost to the N-S sampling track over the <br />BRTA. Marked downdrafts on the order of 2-4 m S-I <br />were found in this dry region just to the lee of the <br />Bangtail Ridge. A second dry region existed from 10 <br />km east of the seeding site to the Main Ridge, probably <br />also associated with lee subsidence. Between the dry <br />regions, i.e., over the windward slope and top of the <br />
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