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~ I I I I I I I I , , I I I I I I I I I WKWMP operational activities divide into four major categories: A. Weather forecastinwoperational planninwdata collection B. Weather surveillance - radar, satellite, TV and visual C. Aircraft seeding operations and maintenance D, Administrative and public relations A. WEATHER FORECASTING/OPERATIONAL PLANNING The Lakin meteorologist prepares a daily weather forecast for the target area and surrounding region. Most weather data used by the WKWMP originates within the National Weather Service, National Center for Atmospheric Research, U.S. Navy or universities and is processed by them before it is disseminated to the public via the Internet. The Internet provides the dominant means for us to acquire weather information in addition to our own radar system. Since we obtained Internet capability in 1995 there has been a virtual explosion of high-quality weather data products, indispensable to meteorologists, are available to the general public. A WKWMP home page is maintained and data pertinent to our pilots and to the general public are placed on it. Radar images from past and current operations also are available for public view. A computer system was put into operation in 1999, called "POPEYE," It is a 450 1\.1HZ computer having 15 GB storage, 256K RAM and a 21" display. The large display screen can be set up as a multi-tasking system running several weather progycts singularly, or in loops which continually update in the background while awaiting the next display command of whatever product is desired. This system is particularly useful during fast-moving, rapidly changing operational periods. With respect to the various media distribution of weather products: The Weather Channel (TWC) generally does an excellent job of providing 24-hour-a-day non-stop television weather updates when viewed on local TV cable. It presents frequent regional radar, forecast and satellite information. TWC is monitored by WKWMP personnel at home and in other places, but not at its field offices since local cable lines do not run to the airport. An Internet-based service data provider called WeatherTap has become indispensable to our operations. WeatherTap provides a variety of important weather information such as current radar data from any of the National Weather Service radar sites, satellite and lightning data and, very importantly, VIL data, VIL is the acronym for Vertical Integrated Liquid; it pinpoints the regions within the radar echoes being displayed in which the largest size hail is likely to be falling, if any, For meteorologists and cloud seeders, VIL has come to be one of the most significant analysis tools to come onto the scene 16