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<br />or more above the target site. Yet a growing body of evidence shows that most of the SL W is <br />concentrated in the lowest kilometer over the windward slope. Therefore, considerable ice particle growth <br />can occur in this zone. This is also the zone in which most ground-released AgI is transported. So a <br />kilometer-deep vertical "gap" between lowest aircraft observations and surface monitoring will cause <br />considerable uncertainty in the growth, fallout and resulting targeting of ice particles resulting from <br />seeding. For example, the early 1989 physical experiments over the Tushar Mountains (Huggins and <br />Sassen, 1990) suffered from lack of aircraft observations because the rugged terrain made impractical low- <br />level flight over the target site. <br /> <br />The ideal mountain barrier for physical cloud seeding experimentation would allow surface sampling on <br />the crestline, would have only marginally higher peaks near the target site, would not have an abrupt <br />crestline which could create serious downwind turbulence, and would have nearby navigational aids such <br />as a VORTAC station. Fortunately, portions of the mountains in the Sevier Basin approximate the ideal <br />except for nearby navigational aids. <br /> <br />Any physical experiment requires some targeting scheme to decide when and where to release the seeding <br />material in the case of a fixed target, or when and where to operate the "mobile target" (usually sampling <br />aircraft) in the case of fixed generator locations. The scheme may be no more complicated than using a <br />typical wind velocity for the altitude range in question to estimate transport time, and typical growth rates <br />and fall speeds for the type(s) of ice particles expected. Such approaches are sometimes referred to as <br />"back of the envelope" calculations. On the other extreme, a highly sophisticated three-dimensional time- <br />dependent numerical model may be run on a supercomputer to simulate the entire airflow pattern around <br />the barrier and all important microphysical processes for expected ranges of conditions. Given the <br />uncertainties in certain key processes and impracticality of detailed measurements around mountains, it <br />is probably most reasonable to use a targeting model of modest sophistication that can be run on a <br />computer in the field using real-time input data. The approach used by Rauber, et al. (1988) may be a <br />good compromise. <br /> <br />If resources permit, a highly sophisticated model should be run for several combinations of atmospheric <br />conditions believed to cover the range of winter storm conditions in the region of interest. The resulting <br />predictions should be in general agreement with the simpler operationally used scheme or the latter might <br />require some modification. <br /> <br />Another requirement for physical experiments is detection of either the seeding material or a <br />simultaneously released tracer to document the seeded zone. Silver iodide can be tracked with an <br />acoustical ice nucleus counter but dry ice is not traceable. Natural variations in IPC (ice particle <br />concentration) can easily mask the ice particles caused by seeding unless the seeding material itself, or <br />a tracer material such as sulfur hexafluoride (SFJ gas, be independently measured to distinguish the <br />seeded volume from natural cloud. In other words, attempting to specify the seeded volume by monitoring <br />ice particles alone may lead to uncertain interpretation of seeding effects; for example, see Deshler and <br />Reynolds (1990). <br /> <br />The most detectable characteristic of seeding at ground level is usually the IPC. Ice cryst'll sizes and <br />habits, and silver content in the snow, are also suggestive that seeding affected the precipitation process. <br />However, successful seeding usually substantially increases the concentration of ice crystals to levels well <br />above background. Much of the IPC enhancement will likely be at small crystal sizes, less than a <br />millimeter in diameter. Small seeded crystals are often in the form of hexagonal plates or small columns. <br />An aspirated. particle imaging probe offers a practical means of continuously monitoring ioo crystal <br /> <br />37 <br />