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<br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />J <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />i \ <br />I <br /> <br />IX. RECOMMENDATIONS <br /> <br />Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment was added to three <br />of the four cloud base aircraft this year (LORAN earlier had been <br />put into a fourth) although not a recommendation at the time this <br />report was published last year. In 1993 these systems provided <br />genuine operational improvement from both the pilots' and radar <br />operator's standpoint by allowing more precise directions to be <br />gi ven more quickly and easily than before. When used in storm <br />avoidance during marginal cloud height and visibility conditions, <br />these systems greatly enhance pilot-aircraft safety. We highly <br />recommend GPS capability be put into all our aircraft by 1994. <br /> <br />The 1992 recommendations remain in the list this year: <br /> <br />1. Expand the rainfall observer network <br /> <br />2. Acquire another computer for data analysis along with <br />performing some minor modernization of the field <br />headquarters <br /> <br />3. Pursue limited use of pyrotechnics on two aircraft <br /> <br />The rainfall observer network, established in 1980, has <br />suffered attrition over the years, losing a few each year; some. <br />years more than others. We need to replace those who have dropped <br />out and we need to find new ones in inadequately represented areas <br />within the current WKWM Program target area. Although we added a <br />couple of new observers in 1993, we need to add significantly more <br />to thc~e now reporting in Gove, Logan, Gray, Hamilton, Stanton, <br />Seward and Grant. It would be helpful to get rainfall observers in <br />the surrounding counties of Morton, Stevens, Meade, Clark, Ness, <br />Hodgeman and Trego...counties in which there is no data received <br />other than the lone official station report for each county. <br /> <br />Recommendation (2) is an outgrowth of evolving technology the <br />past few years which allows us to perform more data processing. <br />The two computers used in the field headquarters are used for <br /> <br />(a) receiving continuous satellite imagery and accessing <br />weather data by modern, and <br /> <br />(b) for radar operations, word processing and data acquisition <br />and analysis. <br /> <br />Voluminous amounts of weather data for analysis will be <br />available soon to meteorologists independent of government and <br />academia; the tendency now is for much of it to be put onto CD-ROM' <br />disks and updated periodically. Although the WKWM program is <br />operationally oriented instead of research oriented, future <br />research and analyses undoubtedly will be done which involves <br /> <br />52 <br />