My WebLink
|
Help
|
About
|
Sign Out
Home
Browse
Search
WMOD00132
CWCB
>
Weather Modification
>
Backfile
>
WMOD00132
Metadata
Thumbnails
Annotations
Entry Properties
Last modified
7/28/2009 2:28:06 PM
Creation date
10/1/2006 2:14:14 PM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Weather Modification
Contract/Permit #
#95-5
Applicant
Western Kansas Groundwater
Project Name
Kansas Weather Modification
Date
1/1/1995
Weather Modification - Doc Type
Report
There are no annotations on this page.
Document management portal powered by Laserfiche WebLink 9 © 1998-2015
Laserfiche.
All rights reserved.
/
124
PDF
Print
Pages to print
Enter page numbers and/or page ranges separated by commas. For example, 1,3,5-12.
After downloading, print the document using a PDF reader (e.g. Adobe Reader).
Show annotations
View images
View plain text
<br />. <br />C. WEATHER SURVEILLANCE - SATELLITE, TV, VISUAL AND RADAR <br /> <br />i <br />I <br />I, <br /> <br />Watching the skies and observing radar is a nearly continuous <br />effort in summer, irrespective of the daily forecast. In 1992 the <br />introduction of a satellite receiver system expanded our capability <br />to observe changing cloud developments in lS-minute intervals. Up <br />until about mid-season this year it provided us a means of seeing <br />cloud and water vapor imagery, often in real-time. The National <br />Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) then began under- <br />going an upgrade test period in their satellite systems and our <br />reception was irregular. Presently, we believe any bugs should be <br />able to be worked out by next season. The satellite imagery as <br />presented by DTN did help fill in the gap, however, there are other <br />details such as water vapor imagery which are useful to view which <br />are not sent by DTN. <br /> <br />In order to reduce hail effectively, it is extremely important <br />to be able to identify a severe storm early in its growth stage and <br />to begin seeding it as quickly as possible. Recognition of non- <br />severe storms as opposed to potentiallY destructive ones requires <br />a certain amount of expertise. All WKWM pilots and meteorologists <br />soon acquire the ability to be able to visually distinguish between <br />the two types of clouds with a generally high level of reliability, <br />which helps get flights launched early. We prefer not waiting to <br />see high radar reflectivities on radar before launching aircraft. <br />Radar observations lag what actually is happening in rapidly <br />growing clouds because cloud droplet sizes are not large enough to <br />be "seen" until relatively late in the lifetime of such clouds. <br />WKWM personnel watch for early development of storms so as to be <br />able to deploy quickly. <br /> <br />Radar becomes an indispensable tool in the identification and <br />tracking of severe storms once such storms are formed. Groundwater <br />Management District #1 owns all equipment used on the WKWM Program <br />including the 5-centimeter wavelength weather radar system and the <br />5 aircraft. The WKWM radar system is similar to some still in use <br />by the National Weather Service. Our normal operational range is <br />100 n.m. for both the range-height indicator (RBI), when making <br />vertical cloud height measurements, and the plan-position indicator <br />(PHI) for horizontal viewing. Radar, computer hardware and software <br />were all integrated into a complete system upgrade in 1991 which <br />allows us to quickly analyze cloud intensity characteristics for <br />hail potential. The current software was an outgrowth of the <br />original version developed in South Africa in the early 1970's for <br />a hail suppression project there which ended in 1981. <br /> <br />The height of the 45 DBZ intensity level within clouds has <br />been used commonly to examine hail potential in storms, analyzing <br />storm intensity for potential destructiveness relative to another <br />storm in order to make the best operational decision regarding the <br />placement of aircraft. Output is displayed in color on a computer <br />monitor. Although one person can operate the whole system easily, <br /> <br />17 <br />
The URL can be used to link to this page
Your browser does not support the video tag.