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<br />EXECUTIVE SUMMARY <br /> <br />The LOREP (Lake Oroville Runoff Enhancement Project) was intended to be a 5-year <br />randomized winter cloud seeding demonstration project conducted by the California <br />Department of Water Resources. The long-term goal of the project was to increase runoff to <br />Oroville Reservoir, the main reservoir of the State Water Project located in northern <br />California. Orographic cold-cloud seeding operations were conducted in 6-h randomized <br />blocks during the 1991-92, 1992-93, and 1993-94 winter seasons. Ground-truth precipitation <br />measurements (snowfall water equivalent) were obtained with a network of up to 11 <br />automatic recording and transmitting precipitation gauges. Statistical analyses of the <br />randomized cases were attempted, but the sample size obtained (87 cases: 56 seed, 31 no <br />seed) during these three winter seasons proved to be too small for obtaining statistically <br />significant results. <br /> <br />Physical studies were conducted in the hope of documenting the magnitude of the increases <br />possible in the seasonal snowpack obtained by seeding winter storms using liquid propane. <br />The field studies conducted emphasized the transport and dispersion of ice crystals produced <br />by the ground-based release of liquid propane from high altitude dispensers along the crest <br />of the northern Sierra Nevada. These studies included a combination of raw ins on de upper- <br />air observations, low altitude research aircraft data collection flights over the target area, a <br />vertically pointing dual-channel microwave radiometer to measure the integrated liquid water <br />and vapor within passing clouds, mountaintop weather stations to measure icing rate and <br />other meteorological parameters, tracer gas release from two propane dispenser sites, both <br />airborne and ground-based tracer sampling measurements, and a radar wind profiler. <br /> <br />The balloon ascent rates for special rawinsonde launches made just downwind from the main <br />Sierra Nevada crest showed a very well defined mountain lee (gravity) wave present during <br />most precipitation events. Strong airflow descent to the lee of the Sierra will thus have a <br />detrimental effect on the growth of ice crystal particles generated on the crest. The tracer <br />SF 6 (sulphur hexaflouride) was used to simulate the transport and dispersion of propane <br />generated ice crystals. Aircraft measurements of SF 6 indicated that at the normal flight <br />altitudes of 2500 m over the downwind valley and 2800 m over the downwind ridge, the <br />aircraft was flying near the top of the tracer gas plumes. When the aircraft was able to fly <br />below cloud base near the release altitude of 2200 m, substantial SF6 was observed. The <br />lower portion of the plume was also observed to descend into the valley about 700 m below <br />the release altitude. <br /> <br />A simple two-dimensional model (GUIDE) was used to determine the impact these lee waves <br />have on ice crystal trajectories. GUIDE model output is presented for one well documented <br />seeding case (February 17, 1993) to show how such models might be used operationally to <br />predict particle trajectories downwind from the Sierra. The results indicate that the GUIDE <br />model does a good job of predicting the location of seeding plumes downwind from the <br />propane dispensers if the proper wind information can be input to the model. <br /> <br />The physical studies point out the complexities associated with the transport and the <br />successful targeting of seeding induced ice crystals initiated over complex terrain. Nearly <br />continuous horizontal and vertical wind fields along with a vertical profile of temperature are <br />needed to accurately predict particle growth and fallout. The 915-MHz wind protl1er with <br />RASS (Radar Acoustic Sounding System) may provide the technology necessary to obtain <br />nearly continuous measurements ofthe three-dimensional wind field and temperature profile, <br /> <br />Xl <br />