Laserfiche WebLink
<br />1174 <br /> <br />JOURNAL OF APPLIED METEOROLOGY <br /> <br />VOLUME 27 <br /> <br /> <br />experiment a single airborne line of AgI was released <br />approximately perpendicular to the wind at a constant <br />distance upwind of the Snow Lab at 3.8 km altitude. <br />After each seeding arc was completed, a series of <br />passes was flown over the Snow Lab and parallel to the <br />wind at the 3.8 km level. These passes were intended <br />to monitor the evolution of the AgI plume and the <br />resulting cloud microphysical changes during transport <br />over the mesa. Surface observations of snowfall char- <br />acteristics were made at the Snow Lab during each <br />experiment, primarily with the ice crystal photography <br />system (see Part I). In addition, high resolution weigh- <br />ing precipitation gages with 45.4 cm orifices and Alter- <br />n shields were operated in protected clearings at seven <br />sites (Fig. 1). The gage charts were read each 15 minutes <br />to the nearest 0.025 mm with the aid of magnification. <br />The seeded zones in these airborne experiments were <br />defined for each pass parallel to the wind according to <br />marked increases in IPC above the general background <br />and/ or the presence of AgI as detected by the acoustical <br /> <br />1300 <br /> <br />1250 <br /> <br />860318 <br />Experiment 1 <br />Airborne Seeding <br />37 km Upwind <br /> <br />counter. The presence of AgI was at times observed <br />exclusive ofIPC in regions devoid ofSLW, while IPC <br />was occasionally observed without AgI, probably due <br />to scavenging and/ or transport of the AgI plume to <br />levels above or below that of the aircraft. <br />The following criteria were used in determining <br />seeded and nonseeded zones: 1) regions containing the <br />AgI plume were considered seeded; 2) regions having <br />an IPC significantly above the preseeding natural con- <br />centrations observed over the mesa were considered <br />seeded if associated with an AgI plume; and 3) regions <br />having an IPC significantly above natural concentra- <br />tions were also considered seeded in the absence of an <br />AgI plume if consistent in position with the advection <br />of a volume previously defined as seeded. The non- <br />seeded or natural ( control) cloud was considered to be <br />cloud volume free from any effects of AgI, including <br />the possibility of contamination from aloft resulting <br />from speed shear of the horizontal wind. Figure 8 shows <br />the relative ease with which approximate plume <br /> <br />I 60 per liter <br /> <br /> <br />II 2D-C Ice Cone. 0 <br /> <br />.10 3 <br />.02 Liquid Water Content Ig m- I <br /> <br />1~9 Ice Nuclei IA91I, raw counts <br />FIRST DETECTION OF PLUME <br /> <br />North <br />40 20 <br />DISTANCE FROM SNOW LAB lkml <br /> <br />FIG. 8. Ice particle concentrations and SLW content plotted as functions of time and distance from the Snow Lab target for the first <br />airborne seeding experiment. Also shown are the pass-total ice nucleus counts and the estimated locations of the AgI plume edges. <br />