An Airborne Profiling Radar Study of the Impact of Glaciogenic Cloud Seeding on Snowfall from Winter Orographic Clouds

Bart Geerts Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming

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Qun Miao Department of Applied Mathematics, Ningbo University, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

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Yang Yang Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming

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Roy Rasmussen Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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Daniel Breed Research Applications Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado

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Abstract

Data from an airborne vertically pointing millimeter-wave Doppler radar are used to study the cloud microphysical effect of glaciogenic seeding of cold-season orographic clouds. Fixed flight tracks were flown downstream of ground-based silver iodide (AgI) generators in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming. Composite data from seven flights, each with a no-seeding period followed by a seeding period, indicate that radar reflectivity was higher near the ground during the seeding periods. Several physical considerations argue in favor of the hypothesis that the increase in near-surface reflectivity is attributed to AgI seeding. While the increase in near-surface reflectivity and thus snowfall rate are statistically significant, caution is warranted in view of the large natural variability of weather conditions and the small size of the dataset.

Corresponding author address: Bart Geerts, Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071. Email: geerts@uwyo.edu

Abstract

Data from an airborne vertically pointing millimeter-wave Doppler radar are used to study the cloud microphysical effect of glaciogenic seeding of cold-season orographic clouds. Fixed flight tracks were flown downstream of ground-based silver iodide (AgI) generators in the Medicine Bow Mountains of Wyoming. Composite data from seven flights, each with a no-seeding period followed by a seeding period, indicate that radar reflectivity was higher near the ground during the seeding periods. Several physical considerations argue in favor of the hypothesis that the increase in near-surface reflectivity is attributed to AgI seeding. While the increase in near-surface reflectivity and thus snowfall rate are statistically significant, caution is warranted in view of the large natural variability of weather conditions and the small size of the dataset.

Corresponding author address: Bart Geerts, Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071. Email: geerts@uwyo.edu

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