BOARD01489

• Board Meeting Date: 1/27/1999
• Description: CF Section - Non-Reimbursable Projects and Investigations - Colorado Climate Center - Colorado Collaborative Rain and Hail Study
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Memo

priority. Using student assistance and support from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research
Service, hail pads and hail pad stands were tested,
manufactured and prepared for distribution.

High school leaders were given the responsibilitY to
implement and manage most aspects of COCO RaHS.
The majority of the 1998 CoCo RaHS cash budget was
utilized to provide paid summer jobs for these students
while in-kind contributions provided instrumentation,
radar data, training materials, publicity, awards and
food. Three students were selected, each with very
different skills and job descriptions. One student waS
hired as the CoCo RaHS volunteer coordinator, One
was hired as computer programmer and database
manager for the project. The third student was hired to
serve as the Webpage developer and Webmaster.
Colorado Climate Center staff provided supervision for
the project, but the students carried out most functions.

One key to the success of the project was the .
mandatory but stimulating observer training sessions
that were held for all participants. Sessions were held
at different times and days of the week to encourage
maximum participation. The original goal was 50
volunteers with a station densitY of approximately one
station per square mile over the city of Fort Collins.
However, close to 200 individuals attended the volun-
teer training sessions. More than 130 observing s~es
were eventually established within a radius of 30 miles
from Fort Collins. A total of nearty 400 students, family
members, and other adults were involved. Student
participants represented 38 separate elementary, junior
high school and high schools from across the area.

3. DATA COLLECTION

Instrumentation for the project was very simple.
Each observer was equipped with a four-inch diameter
high capacity rain gauge and a set of aluminum foil-
covered foam pads one inch thick and approximately
one square foot in area. Data collection requirements
consisted of detailed daily observations of rain and hail.
Once-daily readings of total accumulated rainfall were
scheduled at 7 AM. Observers were instructed to
report "zero" or trace amounts of rainfall with just as
much diligence as heavy rain. In add~ion to total rain-
fall, observers were encouraged to note when rain
began and ended, what time the heaviest rain fell and
what observable consequences there were in terms of
high water and flooding. Detailed hail reports could be
filed at any time following a storm. Hail reports con-
sisted of observations of when hail began, ended and
was most intense, information about the number and
size of stones, the largest, smallest and most common
stone sizes, stone characteristics such as color and
hardness and other related information. Observers
wete encouraged to work as family teams during hail
storms since, during the intense but brief fury of a

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storm, ~ often took at least two sets of eyes and hands .
to thoroughly observe and record the required informa- _
tion.

In addition to the daily rain reports and the periodic
hailstorm summaries, observers were also encouraged
to report immediately any time hail of any size began to
fall and any time rain was heavy enough to cause some
degree of street or field flooding. These reports served
the function of a severe weather spotter network.
Reports were filed in any of several manners. Where
possible, observers were encouraged to report directly
via the Web. Some sent In e-mail messages to the
student project leaders. About 40% of the observers
had no computer access. These people were in-
structed to report in by phone via a dedicated CoCo
RaHS phone line with voice messaging. Student
leaders checked for voice-mail messages every f_
hours throughout the day, seven days a week, and
entered these reports onto the Web.

The communications and data management infra-
structure for CoCo RaHS was a critical component of
the project but was not in place when the summer
began. The student programmer and Web master each
worked furiously In the early weeks of the summer to
build the CoCo RaHS Webpage, data entry forms, a
simple database structure for each rain and hail report
and programs to summarize and display the data. The
highlight of the summer for the student employees was _
the first day when volunteers could enter their reports _
directly from their home computers and when their
reports immediately appeared on colorful maps acces-
sible to participants, sponsors, and Web visitors.
When the weather turned stormy in late July, student
leaders, researchers, sponsors and volunteer partici-
pants were delighted by the daily CoCo RaHS maps
and the huge local variations and complex rainfall pat-
terns that they revealed. CoCo RaHS was wotking.

4. EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

As a benefrt for participation, special summer
educational opportunities were provided for volunteers.
The comprehensive observer training sessions early in
the summer not only provided Instructio.n on how
weather instruments work and how observations Were
to be taken and transmitted, but they also included
many examples of how data are used and why accu-
rate data are important When the project was suc-
cessfully underway, a series of field trips and special
speakers was organized, Based on student input, we
tried to provide tasty food and beverages at most func-
tions. There was strong interest in the summer educa-
tion program and learning opportun~ies. However, due
to limited resources and a very fast-moving ctock, this
aspect of the program was not developed to its full
potential. Many families participated in the series of _
field trips and special speakers, but much better par- ..
ticipation will be possible in the Mure when schedules