<<

David Atlas activities in radar meteoroioyy, Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories physics, and Bedford, Mass. modification in the Soviet Union (June 1965)

1. Introduction Dr. Lobodin. The visit at Voyekov was warm and their This report describes some of the activities in the fields facilities were displayed freely. of radar , cloud physics and weather modi- In the following sections I shall attempt to outline fication in the Soviet Union based on discussions with the activities of the various groups. A rather broad view a number of Soviet scientists and visits to three research of the entire field as of May 1964 has been given by establishments. My visit to the USSR was primarily in Battan in the BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEORO- connection with the International Colloquium on the LOGICAL SOCIETY (46, pp. 309-316). In cloud physics and Fine Scale Structure of the sponsored by , I seem to have gotten very similar the Inter-Union Committee on Radio Meteorology of information to that of Battan, and so I will only sup- URSI and UGGI and the USSR Academy of Sciences, plement his report with more recent material in these 15-22 June 1965 in Moscow. During the meetings I met areas. On the other hand, in radar meteorology I was with Dr. A. G. Gorelik and his colleagues from the able to spend much more time than Battan with the Central Aerological Observatory, and on 23 June, Dr. scientists concerned, and I conclude that we have prob- ably underestimated both the quantity and quality of V. V. Kostarev, Director of the Radar Meteorology the Soviet radar meteorological research. Group at CAO, joined us in an all day discussion. On Sunday, 20 June, all participants in the colloquium Clearly, the reader should be cautioned not to accept visited the Institute for Applied at Obninsk this summary as entirely accurate or as an indication of the total of the Soviet effort. Our discussions could (about 100 km southeast of Moscow). Unfortunately, not possibly have been comprehensive, and on occasion, neither Dr. L. M. Levin or Dr. I. V. Litvinov, who my interpretation of what I was told may have been work in cloud physics and weather modification, were distorted because of language difficulties. I should also present. note that I was given over 100 recent reprints, several Following the colloquium I also visited the Ukranian new books (, , and Hydrometeorological Research Institute at Kiev (25 Electricity by M. S. Shishkin, 1964; Statistical Hydrome- June) where I had an all day meeting with the Di- chanics, Vol. 1 by Monin and Yaglom, 1965; and an rector, Dr. G. F. Prekhochko, who is evidently also Agroclimatological Atlas of the Ukraine, 1964). Until active in weather modification studies, and with Dr. V. this material is translated, even my interpretation of L. Muchnik, in charge of their radio meteorology pro- what I was told must be considered somewhat tentative. gram. Dr. Igor Ivanovich also was present. They were [A bibliography of this material may be obtained by all extremely warm and hospitable, spoke freely, and corresponding with Dr. Atlas.] showed me around the Institute. On 28 June I had a brief one hour visit at the main 2. Central Aerological Observatory office of the Main Geographical Observatory on the a. The Radar Meteorological Group northeast outskirts of Leningrad with Dr. N. Rusin, Headed by Dr. V. V. Kostarev, the radar group evidently Vice-Director, and Dr. Chuvayev, Assistant to Dr. Shish- comprises some 12 scientists. Since support personnel kin, the Chief of the Cloud Physics Department. I also such as technicians appear to be available in greater spoke briefly with Dr. M. J. Budyko, the director. Un- numbers than in the United States, it is undoubtedly fortunately, Shishkin was away on a field trip. Dr. V. the largest single group in radar meteorology anywhere Ya. Nikandrov, Vice-Director and an active leader in in the world. (In comparison, the AFCRL Weather cloud physics, was also absent. The next day, Dr. Rusin Radar Branch includes only 14 people of whom 6 are took me to the Voyekov Experimental Station, about scientists and 2 are professional engineers.) More im- 30 km northeast of Leningrad, where I spoke to Dr. portant, however, is the caliber of the people. Dr. A. Sal'man, Chief of the Radio Meteorology Department; G. Gorelik is an outstanding and prolific worker with Dr. Kolokolov, Chief of the Atmospheric Electricity an impressive record of high quality publications. His Department; and his associates, Dr. W. A. Solovjev and specialty is Doppler radar and signal theory; however,

696 Vol. 46, No. 11, November 1965

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society he clearly is a fine mathematician and has a good knowl- ods. For example, he was not quite sure of the radiation edge of meteorology, precipitation physics, and turbu- patterns of both antennas, and so the relative signal lence theory. Evidently he is also a highly capable radar strengths may be in error. He hopes to improve these engineer for he has designed (and actually built) some methods. sophisticated instruments in the field. Indeed, I know At the colloquium Gorelik reported on Doppler ob- of no other scientist anywhere with such a broad com- servations of night-time dot angels under conditions of petence in radar meteorology. very great stability. Apparently the angels were tracked I also met the following: Dr. A. A. Chernikov, special- simultaneously. The measurements showed both sharp izing in Doppler theory and angels; Dr. Iv. V. Mel'ni- changes in the tracks and sharp variations in the mean chuk, all aspects of radar meteorology, but recently in Doppler frequency by as much as 3 to 4 m sec"1. The Doppler; Dr. A. B. Shupiatsky, general radar meteorol- target cross-sections were about 10"3 cm2. Simultaneously, ogy and polarization studies; Miss (or Mrs.) G. A. Smir- the mean wind was about 10 to 12 m sec"1 and the stand- nova, general research, apparently experimental analyst; ard deviation as measured from the Doppler spectrum Dr. Bovsheverov, formerly a professor at Moscow Uni- of chaff echoes was only 10 cm sec"1. He was convinced versity, and now engaged in radar and meteorological therefore that such echoes could not be from atmos- instrumentation at CAO. pheric structures. I did not meet the following, who have co-authored papers with the above in the last few years: A. M. c. Quantitative precipitation measurements by radar Borovikov; S. P. Morgunov; I. G. Potemkin; and A. F. Kostarev asked me about the basis for the optimistic as- Kuzenkov. I do not really know if the latter are all sessment which I made in my 1964 Advances in Geo- members of the Radar Meteorology Group at CAO, physics article about the use of radar for the measure- but they appear to be from the publications. In any ment of rainfall. They have made rather exhaustive ex- case, the group is impressive. periments of radar rainfall measurements at 3.2 cm against a dense network of gages with linear spacing b. Angels of 1 km in an area 20 X 20 km. They have over 270 Chernikov described some of the observations, tech- days of observations. While the radar-raingage agreement niques, and data in greater detail than appear in his 1963 is excellent on some days, it is extremely bad on others. study (AFCRL Research Translation No. T-R-480). With This he attributes to day to day variations in drop-size respect to the vertical velocities he measured these on distribution in the . Even with time or space in- days during which the atmosphere appeared to be uni- tegration, the results are highly variable. He is there- formly filled with "dot" angels as observed by the time- fore very pessimistic about the use of radar for rainfall height record of his vertical beam 3.2 cm radar. He measurement. Averaged over a year the agreement is gated at one altitude and recorded the Doppler veloci- excellent, but for yearly rainfall one doesn't need a ties as the angels entered the gated volume. The time radar. The Soviet work and opinions on this subject constant of his Doppler velocity measurement was about are presented in a recent WMO report on radar me- 1 sec, so it was difficult to get the velocity-time history teorology prepared by Kostarev and Chernikov, and of an individual angel. However, the records of vz by Kessler of the United States. showed wide variability around zero to ± 3 m sec"1, with most in the 0 ± 2 m sec"1 range, and most with d. Radar calibrations positive velocities. There was a noted relation to the Kostarev was also very interested in the methods we meteorological conditions and time of day with great- use for radar calibration by a standard target. I noted est vz at mid-day. that calibrations are made with a balloon-borne sphere Some polarization studies have also been made of only before or after the and not during. He asked angels which show that many angel echoes are partly what I thought about setting up a standard sphere on depolarized (perhaps indicating rough or complex sur- a tower in a valley just behind a ridge which would faces) and some strongly depolarized. Their old antenna obscure all ground targets other than the sphere. This was capable of measuring depolarization ratios (parallel sounds marginal to me, especially since it could not to cross components) of 21 to 22 db. They are building be used in rain. I described the FSR (Frequency Shift a new one with higher gain, but probably the same Reflector) manufactured by Sierra Research Corpora- depolarization capability. tion. They expressed keen interest in this idea, and Chernikov also described his two dish receiving sys- clearly were not previously aware of it. They were also tem to measure two points on the back-scatter radiation in enthusiastic agreement about using a sphere on a pattern of the angel targets. On this basis he was able rotating arm to provide a well defined fluctuation fre- to conclude that the targets had gain equivalent to a quency distinguishable from ground clutter. They too plane surface of 1 to 3 meters in diameter. I am still un- had thought of this approach. clear, however, about the reliability of his method of deducing curvature. He feels, however, that his previous e. Polarization studies results must be considered preliminary, for there were During the "Fine Scale" Colloquium I had several op- a number of questions about the reliability of the meth- portunities to speak with A. B. Shupiatsky regarding

697

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Vol. 46, No. 11, November 1965 radar measurements of polarization from precipitation. tral analysis and its relation to the wind, turbulence, Although this subject had been studied with some vigor precipitation, and structure of the detected volume. by the MIT Project in the mid-1950's, More recently they have concentrated on experimental almost no experimental work has been done in the measurements of the fine scale structure of turbulence United States since then. Thus it was with considerable and wind using precipitation tracers in storms, and chaff interest that I noted the apparently strong effort which in clear air. In particular Gorelik has derived a rela- the Soviets have made in this field. Indeed, Shupiatsky tionship between the width of the Doppler spectrum asked me why so little work had been done on this and e, the rate of dissipation. He recognizes that subject in the United States, and I could only reply this relation is valid only when the spectrum width is that, on the basis of the MIT work, that it did not ap- determined solely by turbulence, and not by other pear that useful measurements could be made since spurious factors. They have made fairly extensive meas- only the melting band gave strongly characteristic de- urements of e in conditions showing its variation polarization (i.e., ratio of cross to parallel polarization). with height in the boundary layer, and in a variety of In view of our discussion and the three reprints he gave clouds and clear air. In clear air and stratiform clouds me, however, I believe that they are getting significant the most likely values of e range from 3 to 25 cm2/sec8, results. They have a well instrumented 3.2 cm radar but up to 900 in cumulus congestus. The importance of capable of measuring and displaying the depolarization being able to estimate e cannot be overstated, for both ratio as they rotate the direction of transmitted polari- the intensity of turbulent fluctuations and the limiting zation. It is comprised of a two dish system, one for microscale of turbulence are related thereto. Thus the transmitting arbitrary polarization, the other for re- measurement of e in the case of angel echoes from tur- ceiving both the parallel and cross-polarized signals. bulent layers is strongly indicated. Both dishes, with 0.8 deg beamwidth, are mounted on They have also measured pulsations in the mean the same pedestal. The data indicate a significant dif- Doppler wind (of scale size larger than the pulse vol- ference between , snow, and rain. In rain ume) and its decrease with altitude in the boundary the depolarization ratio was typically about 20 db; but layer. In addition, by correlating these pulsations at a only 5 to 15 db in snow. These results are at variance series of altitudes (by rapid changes in the beam eleva- with those of Newell at MIT who found comparable tion angle) they have found the vertical scale of the depolarizations in both rain and snow, and distinctly horizontal wind pulsations to be about 60 meters. Also, different values only in the "bright band." In any case, some preliminary data show that the pulsations in the Shupiatsky gave me a paper on an experiment in which vertical components of the wind are more than 2 to 3 they used depolarization measurements to detect the times smaller than the horizontal components. presence of ice crystals resulting from artificial seeding. Another interesting experiment involved the cor- Before seeding, depolarization of 17-19 db was found relation of the time trace of wind fluctuations at two high in the cloud (5 km) indicating the presence of points (upwind and downwind) so spaced that the spherical particles (apparently supercooled drops); after correlation should be perfect if the turbulence were seeding, depolarizations changed to 7-11 db at lower frozen and simply transported with the mean wind. heights in the resulting snow. He left me to understand The maximum correlation coefficient between the spaced that he felt that polarization methods were reliable in- measurements (2 km apart and 130 sec in time) was 0.7. dications of rain or snow. I also got the impression that In contrast, the Eulerian time scale of pulsations for a they were continuing to use these methods for monitor- correlation of 0.7 was only 8 sec. Thus, he concludes ing the results of artificial seeding. Further details re- that the Lagrangian scale of fluctuations is over 15 main to be gleaned from the translations of the articles. times the Eulerian scale. Considering the variety of their experiments, it is clear that their Doppler facilities f. Doppler studies are both extensive and quite sophisticated. While we did not discuss this during the meeting of 23 June, I had quite extensive private discussions with g. Hailstorm identification Gorelik during the colloquium. Moreover, this was the Kostarev mentioned that, in connection with the subject of his colloquium paper. Gorelik also gave me prevention program in the Caucasus, they have been a copy of issue 57 of Trudy, CAO published in 1964. using radar to monitor hailstorms, to locate optimum This issue is devoted entirely to nine papers in radar seeding places and times, and to check the effects of meteorology of which five deal with theory and experi- seeding. He stated that they can identify a hailstorm ments on Doppler radar. It is apparent that they are with a confidence of about 90% from the vertical pro- mounting a major effort in this field. Wliile Gorelik is file of reflectivity (measured at 3 cm). They use a com- clearly the leader here, and is himself evidently capable bination of the maximum reflectivity aloft (for hail, of outstanding work both theoretically and experimen- Z>5 X 103 mm6/m3), the height of the maximum (no tally, Chernikov, Mel'nichuk, and Smirnova are also less than 6 km), the height interval over which the pro- quite active in this area. We have recently received a file maintains a Z within 10 db of the maximum (no less translation of a major 1963 paper by Gorelik which is than 3 km), and the height of the top. Storms a comprehensive theoretical treatment of Doppler spec- containing rain only show no maximum reflectivity aloft

698

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society as Donaldson showed some years ago. In the U. S., i. Weather modification 5 6 8 Geotis has given a value of Z>3xl0 mm /m at Evidently, Kostarev's group has been cooperating with 10 cm as a threshold for hail, but Kostarev felt the the hail prevention seeding program of Sulakvelidze value had to be reduced at 3 cm to account for the (Alpine Research Institute in Nalchik in the Caucasus) possibility of attenuation. In any case, a value of and with that of Kartsivadze (Georgian Academy of 3 5 X 10 seems low since it corresponds only to a rain- Sciences, Tbilisi). Battan reports on the latter programs -1 fall rate of 15 mm hr . (In Battan's review he quotes at some length so I will not repeat them here. How- 5 6 3 Sulakvelidze as giving a threshold of 4 X 10 mm /m , ever, Kostarev noted that Kartsivadze now runs a regu- just about equal to Geotis' value. Thus, Kostarev may lar seeding service for farmers in the Alazan Valley of have given me the wrong figure.) The confidence with Georgia. Evidently, the farmers pay for this service. He which they believe they can identify hail is surprising. reported a saving of ten million rubles (I believe in In a separate discussion with Gorelik, I asked whether 1964) and that for each "10 kopeks invested, 100 rubles or not he believed that Sulakvelidze could distinguish were saved" a 1000 to 1 profit/investment ratio. I do hail sizes by simultaneous reflectivity measurements at not understand whether or not these figures have any- 3 and 10 cm, as Battan reported he was doing. This thing to do with those reported by Battan in reviewing technique was first used by Atlas and Ludlam in 1959, Sulakvelidze's operations prior to 1964. In any case, it but has since been abandoned because of the possible is quite clear that they feel very confident that economi- large attenuation errors at 3 cm. Gorelik too had serious cally useful results are being obtained. In later discus- doubts about the method. sions at Kiev and Leningrad, both Muchnik and Chuvayev mentioned the work in the Caucasus and h. Cloud detection that no hail had occurred in the seeded area (pre- The CAO group has evidently done a great deal of sumably in 1964); however, I do not know whether work on the radar detection of cloud bases and tops they were referring to the work of Sulakvelidze or of in comparison to aircraft measurements. I do not know Kartsivadze. whether this was done with 0.86 cm radar. They found excellent agreement between the radar and aircraft 3. Institute of Applied Geophysics, Obninsk tops, within ±100 m; however, the radar bases were invariably much lower than the visual bases. Kostarev Obninsk, about 100 km south of Moscow is evidently noted that aircraft sampling showed large drops to be becoming an important research center. In addition present at the cloud base as a rule (I assume that this to the Institute for Applied Geophysics, there are in- was in stratiform clouds only). stitutes for Physical Energetics, for Physical Chemistry, I mentioned my theoretical work in which I con- and for Medical Radiology, and a new Institute of the cluded that the detection of true clouds was de- Physics of the Earth now under construction. pendent not on Z = 2NDe but upon the non-uniformi- Battan's description of the Cloud Physics work at ties in water content or particle number concentrations. the Institute of Applied Geophysics is fairly compre- Since water clouds had large particle concentrations, hensive so I shall merely supplement it here. The In- and since the scales of turbulence cut off in the centi- stitute is under the absentee direction of Academician meter region, I doubted that 0.86 cm radar could de- E. K. Fedorov, Head of the Hydrometeorological Serv- tect true water clouds. They were quite interested in ice. However, the Vice-Director, Dr. V. V. Sinelchikof these ideas, but argued that large volume aircraft greeted us. Both Dr. L. M. Levin and Dr. I. V. Litvinov, samples frequently showed droplets with diameter the leaders of the cloud physics effort were absent. In- greater than 50 microns in concentrations of 0.1 to stead, I spoke to Dr. O. A. Volkovitsky, Chief of Ex- 0.2 m~3. I agreed that these would provide echoes (not perimental Installations, and Dr. E. L. Alexandrov, necessarily detectable), but that the remaining 108 concerned with the experiments. drops/m3 with sizes smaller than 25 microns would The Institute, with about 200 scientific workers, is not scatter if they were homogeneously distributed. divided into four main departments: (1) Boundary The discussion ended, although I do not believe they Layer, (2) Artificial Modification of Atmospheric Proc- were entirely convinced. esses, (3) Agricultural Meteorology, and (4) Instrumen- Dr. Kostarev did inquire whether or not we had tation (for the Hydrometeorological Service). The latter pursued my 1954 paper on the "Estimation of Cloud department was said to be placing great emphasis on Parameters by Radar." I replied that we had not, mainly automating weather observations. because the clouds were not detectable (for the reasons As Battan noted, the cloud physics research labora- stated above). He noted that they were trying to deduce tory is most impressive. Housed in one building are: cloud liquid water content by radar, using relative at- (1) two "small" cloud chambers (100 m3 each) under tenuation at two wavelengths. However, I do not know and pressure control, (2) a very large cham- whether they have implemented this approach, although ber (15 m diameter, 18 m tall, 3200 m3 volume) with no they had made some simultaneous radar and 3 cm temperature control and limited pressure control, (3) a radiometer measurements of clouds in the hope of de- vertical wind tunnel (2 m in diameter and 30 m high, ducing LWC. not 20 m as noted by Battan) for controlled speeds up

699

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Vol. 46, No. 11, November 1965

1 to only 0.5 m sec" , and (4) a horizontal wind tunnel test area is southeast of Dnepropetrovsk near Kirovo- 1 for speeds up to 80 m sec" . All this was built at a cost grad and is comprised of a seeding and control area, of ten million rubles. A conventional 3 cm radar is each 50 by 75 km on a side (not 15 by 75 as Battan mounted on the top of the 11 story tower housing the reported) with 300 to 350 rain gages in each, or roughly vertical wind tunnel. 1 gage per 10 km2. A 3.2 cm radar is located near the In the large cloud chamber, which is filled by steam prevailing downwind end of the seeded area. Seeding jets, the mean drop size can be controlled over the is by aircraft, said to be economical and very effective. range 5 to 15 microns, with apparently considerable Dry ice is most effective, and they use as little as 1/4 control over the width of the spectrum, and the LWC kgm per km or as much as 2 to 3 kgm per km de- 3 can be controlled from 0.2 to 0.5 gm/m (so far). In pending upon the depth of cloud above the 0C level. answer to my question as to what had been accom- They seed stratus, stratocumulus, and nimbostratus in plished with these facilities since Battan's visit in frontal situations and cumulus congestus in . 1964, I was told that the main work has been to in- Most of the work has been on warm fronts and occlu- vestigate, calibrate, and control their characteristics and sions with little on cold types. They seed even when capabilities, and that by the end of 1965 they will have it is already raining with the aim of increasing the completed a number of papers dealing with the facili- amounts. Seeding is accomplished upwind of the bound- ties. Questions raised by other Americans brought to ary of the test network by flying in a "figure 8" pattern. light that there was no control of turbulence in the Effects are noticed in 15 to 20 minutes after seeding vertical wind tunnel, and, in the large cloud chamber, and last about 45 minutes if seeding stops. They showed no measurements of the electric charge on the droplets me radar pictures demonstrating the clear-cut results ejected from the steam jets. of seeding, the echo patterns appearing in zig-zag or I gave Dr. Alexandrov a copy of the Silverman et al. sinusoidal fashion as the "figure 8" seeding formation paper on the AFCRL Laser Disdrometer. He was is drawn out by the wind. The pictures were very simi- very interested in this. He said they have no similar lar to those of Takeda in Japan and their published work on lasers to measure drop size. work on this pre-dates Takeda's. They have found Dr. N. L. Byzova and Dr. V. N. Ivanov then took us average increases in precipitation of 10 to 15%, some- to the 300 m meteorological tower. This tower, a cylin- times as much as 25%, but these increases are observed drical column 2 m in diameter with an elevator inside, only in very small areas of 15 km on a side. A profile of has been described in the literature. It was built at a rainfall along the across the target area cost of about 500,000 rubles, not including the meteoro- shows a peak of 10-15% increase over a distance of logical instrumentation. It is extremely well equipped some 10-15 km with uniform background rainfall on at 13 levels, spaced 25 m apart. There are four booms either side. Occasionally small increases are observed at each level so that the data is unaffected by the tower over extended distances downwind beyond the peak, itself. Only one sonic anemometer is used at present. and occasionally the precipitation downwind is less It has a central transmitter (T) and four receivers (R) than that upwind of the peak, as if the seeding ac- in a horizontal array, with spacing of 25 cm between T tually robbed some of the moisture supply. Increases and R. All the data are recorded automatically in a are not always the case; occasionally, decreases are building some 30 ft from the foot of the tower. The observed. The results depend on the nature of the recorders, mostly like the old Brown recorder, are pri- front. Roughly 50% of warm fronts give good re- marily analogue. However, there was an A to D con- sults. Also, the results are very poor if it is not al- verter and punched tape for the temperature records. ready raining. Sixty seeding experiments have been con- They also recorded 100 sec averages of the temperature ducted to date and all the results will be published variance and the spectral energy at 0.05 cps and pro- shortly. vided a vertical profile of these parameters. Dr. Muchnik gave me copies of Nos. 47 and 48 (1965) 4. Ukraine Hydrometeorological Research of the Transactions of the Ukraine Hydrometeorologi- Institute—Kiev cal Research Institute. No. 47, "Problems of Artificial My conversations were with the Director, Dr. G. F. Modification of Atmospheric Processes," contains ten Prekhochko and Dr. V. L. Muchnik, in charge of radio papers dealing with weather modification. No. 48, meteorology and cloud physics. The institute is com- "Problems of the Physics of Clouds and ," con- prised of some 900 people of whom 300 are in Kiev tains 14 papers dealing with theory and experiments. and 600 out in the field. Their main interest appears Unfortunately, these have yet to be translated. How- to be in agrometeorology. About 25 scientists were said ever, some idea of the magnitude of their efforts can to be involved in weather modification studies; however, be gleaned from a few examples. their field programs must involve many more support The paper "Intensification of precipitation over an personnel. Dr. Prekhochko described their weather experimental meteorological network during the win- modification efforts. ter of 1963-64" by M. P. Leonov and T. D. Nerobeeva Their objective is to increase precipitation in the in Issue 47 discusses 17 of the experiments described by plains steppe region both in and summer. Their Dr. Prekhochko. In these 17, 13 showed increased pre-

700

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society cipitation ranging from 0.2 to 1.3 mm over areas rang- of clouds have been seeded and Dr. Prekhochko stated ing from 225 to 1440 km2. The affected areas showed with great confidence that the statistics indicate average patchiness similar to natural rainfall, but significantly, increases of 10%. Their delay in publishing has been the precipitation maxima of the seeded patches invari- due to their desire to prove this beyond any doubt. ably exceeded those of the adjacent unseeded patches; Although Muchnik first stated that it was difficult to in half the tests, the excess was about 1 mm, but this detect any difference between the seeded and unseeded was observed only in areas smaller than 200 km2. These clouds, he later stated that frequently a new turret increases evidently correspond to the entire period of would appear at the cloud top near the point of seed- seeding which varied from a low of 20 minutes to a ing. This is similar to the growth observed by Malkus high of 4 hours. The total increase in water for the and Simpson. I presented them with a copy of the test area ranged from 100 to 1400 metric kilotons in 1964 NAS report on Weather Modification. They were individual experiments, and amounted to 6.0 X 10® most interested and appreciative, but expressed surprise metric tons for all 17 experiments. that none of the U. S. weather modification experiments Dr. Prekhochko also described the experimental work had found any significant increases in rainfall. being conducted in the Aerosol Laboratory under the In response to my question about the hail prevention direction of Dr. L. M. Royev. This includes work on work in the Caucasus, both Prekhochko and Muchnik nucleation in an attempt to find organic reagents suit- believe that the results are significant. In their view able for seeding, and to determine the effects of nuclei the verification problem seems to be one of observa- surface characteristics and impurities on crystal forma- tion. Statistics given below for their test area show the tion. They also have a study of on natural relation between thunderstorm and hail occurrences and artificial nuclei in which they measure optical (per year) as a function of the size of the observing thickness of the fog created as a function of the type area. Note that a 12 to 1 increase in the observing area and size of nuclei. They are also constructing an op- increases thunderstorm occurrences only by 1.8 (because tical set-up to determine the drop size distribution by of the large size of the storms), but the hail occurrences small angle diffraction. It was said that this laboratory work was a major program but had only recently begun. 2 While Dr. Muchnik's program in radio meteorology Observing Area—km includes a study of means of measuring rainfall by 315 1250 2800 radar (incidentally, he was more optimistic about the 2750 possibilities than Kostarev) and other efforts, most of 29 41 48 52 his work appears to be closely related to the weather Hail at ground 1 8 13 16 modification program. In particular, they have used semi-automatic CAPPI (Constant Altitude PPI) methods by a factor of 16. Significantly the hail/storm ratio in- to monitor the 3-dimensional structure of seeded clouds, creases from 1:29 to 1:3.25, a 9-fold increase. For these and the widening of the seeded strips by diffusion. He reasons, one finds it difficult to state with confidence noted that the width of the seeded strip generally grows even the true frequency of hail, let alone that resulting 1 at a rate of 500 m min" to a maximum of 3 to 5 km. after modification. It grows faster in the horizontal than in the vertical. Dr. Muchnik also noted that he has hail and rain sta- In the summer they have been observing cumulus tistics versus echo top heights. In the hail histogram, congestus in 3-dimensions using CAPPI volume scan- 30% of the occurrences are in storms whose echo tops ning and gain reduction techniques to obtain storm are between 10 and 11 km; similarly, 22% of the non- intensities. They have a 3 minute cycling time for the hail convective storms have tops between 8 and 9 km. entire volume. The work is done in conjunction with These are the peak values in the histograms. seeding trails from aircraft which seed mostly above Dr. Muchnik and one of his assistants are also doing the cloud tops, but occasionally penetrating. A second some laboratory work on the formation of ice spicules radar tracks and controls the aircraft. They find it diffi- in freezing drops, and the growth of feathers on crystals cult to detect any difference in the physical structure in an electric field. between the seeded and unseeded congestus with the exception noted below. It was stated that if the cloud 5. Main Geophysical Observatory—Leningrad tops went to the — 12C level, they would produce rain a. General naturally. However, their data shows that 80% of the The Main Geophysical Observatory, comprised of CuCg clouds in their area fail to reach that level and roughly 1000 people, is divided into three main divisions so they believe it possible to stimulate rain artificially, and some ten departments, roughly as follows: provided the cloud thickness exceeds 3000 m. They seed as long as the cloud top temperature is warmer Divisions: than — 28C, but usually when the top 1. Theoretical are between — 10 and — 20C. They seed clouds whose 2. Applied tops are colder than — 12C in an attempt to force 3. Experimental (located at Voyekov, 30 km north- more rain than would fall naturally. Many hundreds east of Leningrad)

701

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Vol. 46, No. 11, November 1965

Departments (not complete) prediction. Evidently he calculates the growth of spheri- 1. (a. Theoretical b. Statistical) cal stones by accretion in a cloud having adiabatic wa- 2. Atmospheric (under Dr. Shifrin) ter content and a variety of assumed updraft profiles. 3. This material was said to be included in Shishkin's new 4. Atmospheric electricity (under Dr. Kolokolov) (1964) book Clouds, Precipitation, and Thunderstorm Electricity, a copy of which was given to me. 5. Cloud physics (under Drs. Nikandrov and Shish- I gave Dr. Chuvayev a copy of the NAS 1964 report kin) on weather modification. 6. Radio meteorology (under Dr. Sal'man) c. Radar meteorology b. Cloud physics and weather modification Dr. E. M. Sal'man took me on a tour of the radar fa- I spoke briefly with Dr. Budyko about weather modifica- cilities at Voyeykov. He showed me the MRL-1 (Me- tion. He expressed his personal doubts of the statistical teorological Radio Locator) which was described briefly significance of any increase in rainfall as a result of by Battan in his review. The following is a more ac- seeding, except under special conditions. However, he curate and complete description. The set is comprised noted that there seems to be accumulating evidence of of two virtually independent radars at 0.86 and 3.2 cm real effects on hail prevention, although the data are using the same antenna. The basic characteristics are yet too sparse for statistical evaluation. He felt that the listed below. The antenna is a single 3 m diameter solid entire problem of weather modification was a major one, unlikely to be solved in a short time, and so their Characteristics of the MRL-1 weather radar program was a long range one. In response to my question as to whether or not they 0.86 cm 3.2 cm are doing any work on weather modification methods Peak transmitted power (kw) 100 300 such as the large asphalt surfaces proposed by Black and Pulse width (microsec) 0.5 1 or 2 Malkus in the United States, he noted that they have Pulse repetition frequency (cps) 500 300 or 600 5 4 given some thought to this and similar methods. How- Antenna gain 6.4 X 10 4 X 10 ever, evidently they have not undertaken any experi- Beam width-circular (minutes) 14 42 Minimum detectable power (dbm) 92 102 mental programs of this kind. In the absence of Drs. Nikandrov and Shishkin, I spoke briefly with Dr. A. P. Chuvayev who is responsible circular paraboloid fed by two coaxial horns. The dish for a recently begun investigation of climatological re- and drive system appear to be extremely well made and sources and problems of large scale modification. He solid, as is the entire radar. The entire 0.86 cm RF observed that such large scale programs are possible package (transmitter, receivers, and probably the modu- only if we understand the nature of the climatological lator as well) is located in a tower room just below the resources; e.g., the quantity of water available in clouds pedestal and rotates with the pedestal in azimuth. Thus, which would not be realized naturally. To this end there is only a vertical rotary joint at 0.86 cm. The RF they are studying the nature of cloud and precipitation package is about 2 X 3 X 4 ft in dimension. The 3.2 cm fields over large areas and their relation to each other. RF package is fixed and feeds a waveguide running up Observations of cloud dimensions and coverage are the axis of rotation through the 0.86 cm package. Both taken by aircraft and surface networks (no satellite data radars can be operated simultaneously. Both RF lines as yet). Some measurements of cloud LWC are also are pressurized with air. Scanning rate is 6 rpm in azi- 1 made, but apparently only average values are used. muth and 2.5 scans min" in the vertical. The realized precipitation is measured by surface gages The 3.2 cm receiver has a traveling wave tube front and not by radar because of the lack of a unique rela- end. The 0.86 cm receiver is conventional. Both have tion between reflectivity and rainfall rate. As yet there log and linear receivers with 70 db and 30 db dynamic are no significant results to report. Dr. Chuvayev also range, respectively. A manually operated IF attenuator noted that the problem of the supply of moisture by with 70 db range is common to both receivers and is the large scale circulation was being studied by Dr. used for precision measurements and gain reduction. Budyko. Automatic noise measuring facilities are also incor- With regard to hail prevention, Chuvayev quoted porated. Sulakvelidze's results of 1964. Apparently the latter had Echo power can be mapped either by manual use of predicted that there would be no hail in his seeded the IF attenuator or by use of a two-level isoecho cir- area; there was none when the clouds were seeded. cuit. The second level evidently can be controlled in Nevertheless, he noted that there were some skeptics in 5 db steps. A range gated pulse integrator is used for Leningrad. He emphasized the difficulties of identifying recording signal strength at fixed range. Only one such clouds with hail, of detecting the effects of seeding, integrator was apparent so it appears that the measure- and of evaluating the results. ments can be made only at one wavelength at a time. Dr. Chuvayev also mentioned that Dr. Shishkin has The main console has three scopes—a 12 inch PPI, a been conducting theoretical studies of hail growth and 12 inch RHI, and about a 6 inch dual sweep A-scope.

702

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society

Data can be taken automatically in CAPPI-type scan With regard to cloud detection at 0.86 cm, Dr. by elevating the beam sequentially in half beam width Sal'man reported that cumulus humilis are not detected steps to 10 degrees. A large variety of controls are avail- at all, but that stratocumulus are detected 80% of the able to the operator for all the functions. time. He noted that the clouds required maximum drop A virtually complete remote console is located in a diameters of 30 microns or larger for detectability at second room just below the room containing the RF 0.86 cm, and 80 to 100 microns for detection at 3.2 cm. package and modulators. This appears to duplicate How he obtained these figures was not discussed. The most of the operations of the main console, and evi- latter work was done by B. U. Divinskay. dently contains the IF amplifiers. Also located here is A total of 30 people are involved in the radar meteor- a 7 kc/s sferics receiver with an indicator to display ology program including those at the three radar sta- the direction of the discharges. I did not notice a simi- tions mentioned earlier. lar indicator at the main console; however, this may I gave him a bound copy of "Advances in Radar Me- be in the process of installation. I do not know if the teorology," my section of Vol. 10 of Advances in Geo- sferics flashes are stored and displayed on the radar physics. Dr. K. S. Shifrin, Chief of the Atmospheric PPI in the manner described by Swingle in the United Optics Department, had told me earlier that he was States some years ago. translating it. I also sent Dr. Sal'man a copy of the Dr. Sal'man mentioned that the radar was built at a Proceedings of the 11th Weather Radar Conference. cost of about 100,000 rubles. By U. S. standards this is exceedingly cheap considering the magnitude of the d. Atmospheric electricity system, the size of the antenna, and the general fine I spoke with Dr. Kolokolov, Chief of the Atmospheric quality of construction. The first one was built 5 years Electricity Department and his associates, Drs. Lobodin ago. He noted that there were seven such radars in use. and Solovjev. The department is divided into three lab- The one at Leningrad (probably at the airport), the oratories: (1) Thunderstorm Electricity under Solovjev, one at Moscow, and another about mid-way between (2) Free Atmosphere Electricity under Imyanitov, (3) the two cities, are used in a network to provide opera- Observational Research under Paranarov. They are par- tional data to the forecasters. Once an hour each sta- ticipating actively in the IQSY with measurements of tion records the heights of storms in each 10 X 10 km electric field and conductivity at 9 ground stations and square (outside the first 20 to 30 km) as detected by from 3 aircraft. In addition, 15 sferics (7 kc/s) stations the 3.2 cm radar. The job is done manually and takes record discharges and direction, while only about 30 minutes. All the data is assembled at the the number of discharges are recorded at another 25 central. The 0.86 cm radar is used only for cloud base stations using a 7 to 10 meter vertical dipole. The lat- and top detection within 40 km of each station. Other- ter was said to have an effective range of about 400 km. wise it is used for research on the microstructure of In a paper soon to be published they report a good clouds. correlation between the average field strength of the They have also been conducting experiments on rain- discharge and distance to the storm out to 200-300 km, fall measurement by 3.2 cm radar. For this purpose they beyond which large errors occur. have a rain gage network 1 km2 containing 25 gages I asked if they were doing anything to prevent light- located 26 km from Voyekov. Even with this great ning. They referred to published work by Imyanitov density, however, they sometimes find errors up to and Chuvayev (Meteorology and Hydrology, 1958), also 200% in 10 minute averages when using the simple described in Shishkin's book. (Perhaps the reference is relationship Z = 200 R16. Also their average measure- to Chuvayev, 1957: "Modern Possibilities of Preventing ments show an 8 db discrepancy below theory. Sal'man Storm and Hail," Trudy, GGO, No. 74). In this work, thought this might be due to waveguide losses, but the the electric field strength was said to have been reduced difference seems unreasonably large for this cause alone. as a result of seeding convective storms. They noted Dr. Sal'man's group has been conducting a wide that Shishkin was pursuing this work intensively now. variety of other radar studies, many of which are de- Dr. Solovjev took me to see the sferics installation scribed in a series of recent reprints which he gave me. (also at Voyekov). The equipment is modern, but the sferics counting methods are still manual. Two operators In process of publication is a report on the detection were in the midst of an observation routine recording of the tropopause by 3.2 cm radar in the absence of the number of discharges in each azimuth interval for any clouds. For this purpose they used a 2 sec inte- a 5 minute period. I believe the counts are made every gration, evidently with a fixed vertical beam. The 3 hours, but are transmitted to the Central Forecast radar had greater sensitivity than the MRL-1. He de- Institute in Moscow only 4 times daily. There are evi- scribed the echoes as "stable," but this was not clear dently 6 stations in the operational network: Moscow, to me. Evidently the tropopause is not always detectable. Leningrad, Minsk, Murmansk, Kiev, and Rostov. The Echoes are also detected from clear air inversions and data is assembled in Moscow to determine the centers regions of great turbulence. This work was being done of of the simultaneous fixes from all the stations. by Brilyov. The data was said to be especially useful for coverage

703

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Vol. 46, No. 11, November 1965 of areas of sparse conventional observations. Dr. Solov- Dr. Stepanenko asked me about my present views on jev has also been studying the climatology of thunder- the use of meteorological satellites, in reference to my storms using the sferics data and has excellent maps critical comments in my article in Bull Amer. Meteor. showing the distribution of storms throughout Europe Soc. (44, 1963, pp. 772-777). I noted that my colleagues and the USSR in the summer. The data was also said working in satellite meteorology were not especially to be used in synoptic and climatology workshops. happy about my remarks, and that the satellite data They wondered why sferics observations had been were indeed very useful, although quite expensive. discontinued in the United States. I replied that it When I asked about their plans for a Soviet meteoro- was due mainly to the rather complete coverage of logical satellite, he said that they didn't have one be- storm activity provided by the radar network. I de- cause it was too expensive. In a subsequent brief con- scribed briefly the automatic sferics plotter used by versation with Prof. Obukhov, Director of the Institute AFCRL in the Oklahoma-Texas area in 1960-61. They of , I again inquired as to their were extremely interested in the automation of the activities in satellite meteorology and whether or not sferics counts and the TV-type display of the inter- they had anything like TIROS. He referred me to a sections, and were curious as to why the program was recent paper in the new journal of the Physics of the dropped. I told them that this was due largely to a Atmosphere and Oceans (v. 1, no. 4, 1965) by Dr. G. V. lack of a strong requirement for the data, especially in Rosenberg of his Institute and V. V. Nikolayeva-Teresh- view of the availability of satellite and radar coverage. kova, the lady cosmonaut, entitled "Stratospheric Aero- sols According to Measurements from a Manned Space e. Miscellaneous Vehicle (VOSTOK 6)." While in Moscow I had interesting talks with Dr. K. S. 6. Summary and conclusions Shifrin, Chief of the Atmospheric Optics Department One cannot help but be impressed by the magnitude of the Main Geophysical Observatory and with Dr. V. of the Soviet programs in cloud physics, weather modi- D. Stepanenko. The latter cooperates with Sal'man in fication, and radar meteorology. While all of them are research but is employed by the Hydrometeorological not of uniformly high quality, the general caliber of Service and not by the Observatory. Evidently he is the work is certainly comparable to that in the United located at Leningrad Airport; however, I could not States. Indeed certain of the efforts and a number of contact him in Leningrad. the scientists are outstanding and their work is more Dr. Shifrin's group is concerned mainly with theoreti- advanced than anywhere else. cal work on a wide variety of problems concerning the Dr. Battan has already reviewed the Soviet programs scattering and attenuation by atmospheric particulates in cloud physics and weather modification and I have at any and all wavelengths. He said that they under- simply been able to confirm his remarks and bring took very little experimental work. Recently he has them up to date. In 1964-65, the continued program been concerned with simplified methods of calculating to increase frontal precipitation in the steppe region the Mie cross sections by approximations. He also gave of the Ukraine (Hydrometeorological Research Institute, me a reprint in English "Calculation of Particle Dis- Kiev) has confirmed their earlier conclusions that they tribution by the Data on Spectral Transparency" (Pure can increase rainfall by 10 to 15% in small areas. Cer- and Applied Geophysics, v. 58, 1964. pp. 208-220). In tainly the radar observations show conclusively that the this work, he develops a method to invert transmission precipitation is being modified. However, the statistical measurements through a cloud of particulates as a proof of increased rainfall awaits publication, and firm function of wavelength to deduce the particle size belief in its validity is not shared by all. In the case of distribution. convective clouds, the effects are more difficult to detect. Shifrin, Stepanenko, and Shupiatsky were all inter- However, new turrets have been observed to sprout ested in our work on the scattering from oblate hail- from the regions of seeded clouds. Here too, rainfall stones. Dr. Shifrin did not think it possible to calcu- increases of about 10% are said to occur, although the late the radar scatter from non-spherical particles theo- evidence is less convincing. retically particularly in the Mie region. They are With regard to hail prevention in the Caucasus, the therefore planning to make experimental measurements 1964 efforts of Drs. Sulakvelidze and Kartsivadze have using models made of polymers. They are also con- impressed even the skeptics in the Soviet Union and cerned with the scatter from odd-shaped stones. Shifrin there appears to be almost general acceptance of their was concerned about the accuracy of my measurements conclusions that hail can be prevented. with models made of Stycast because real ice had non- In radar meteorology, I found the Soviet efforts im- symmetrical crystal axes with polarizability dependent pressively strong, partly because of the limited knowl- upon axis orientation. I was not aware of this possi- edge which we had of their work previously. Especially bility, and think it is probably not important for large noteworthy is the program at the Central Aerological stones containing many crystallites with varied orienta- Observatory under Drs. Kostarev and Gorelik. In my tion. In any case, our measurements on real ice oblates view, Gorelik's studies in the area of Doppler radar were in good accord with those of Stycast. probings lead the entire field, and while I did not get

704

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Bulletin American Meteorological Society an opportunity to see their Doppler facilities, it is how much is entirely original. Clearly a large fraction obvious that they are considerable. The work on angels of their papers exploit the recent advances made else- by Chernikov, Gorelik, and Kostarev is also extremely where, but a good number also demonstrate originality imaginative and competent, and has involved a number and ingenuity. In any case, since research everywhere of ingenious experiments. The studies on polarization consists mainly of a series of small advances to estab- characteristics by Shupiatsky, which also employ sophis- lished knowledge as represented by the world-wide body ticated instrumentation, are equally interesting and in- of scientific literature, and since the Soviet literature dicate an area in which we might well revive our activi- now comprises such a large fraction of that knowledge, ties. The intensive research program by Dr. Kostarev we can no longer afford to neglect it. on radar-rainfall measurements should also be noted as In addition to training in Russian and improvement an example of the depth of the Soviet investigations. in our translation services, other mechanisms to keep Clearly, the size of the radar meteorology group at the abreast of Soviet research need to be implemented. I Central Aerological Observatory (12 scientists plus sup- found the colloquium on the Fine Scale Structure of porting personnel) makes it the largest single group of the Atmosphere especially useful in this regard for it its kind in the world. was limited in size but still included all the Soviet spe- Although the new MRL-1 radar is available only at cialists in the field. The working groups which met to- 7 stations, it is obviously the most advanced operational ward the end of the meeting to prepare summary re- weather radar in the world with two wavelengths (0.86 ports on the state of knowledge were especially valuable and 3.2 cm), a large antenna (3 m diameter), and ex- in face to face exchanges and in bringing to the fore tensive facilities for quantitative measurements. Only the results of the most recent research. Similar small the utility of its 3.2 cm wavelength can be questioned and informal meetings of groups of specialists need to with regard to the deleterious effects of rainfall attenua- be arranged on a regular basis, perhaps yearly. We tion. The work of Dr. Sal'man and his group at the must also double our efforts to invite Soviet participa- Main Geophysical Observatory with this and other tion in our meetings and publications, and hopefully, radars covers a broad realm and is definitely worthy vice-versa. All of the scientists I spoke with expressed of our attention. a keen interest in participating in our specialized con- It is of interest to me that the Soviet work in radar ferences on cloud physics, severe storms, and radar me- meteorology has been more fully integrated with other teorology, and so we should see to it that they are programs than in the United presented invitations from the highest levels. If they States. Competent radar meteorologists at the Ukraine cannot participate personally, they indicated a desire Hydrometeorological Research Institute work closely to submit papers for presentation by proxy. I see no with the cloud physicists in the weather modification reason why each specialized conference should not in- program. Radar experts from CAO have worked in- clude a survey of recent Soviet research prepared by a tensively in the hail prevention programs in the Cau- Soviet scientist and invited well in advance. We should casus. Moreover, the radar investigations everywhere also urge our Soviet colleagues to submit papers to our have been supported by strong direct meteorological journals, both on individual research efforts and sur- sampling; for example, by dense ground rain gage net- veys, and we should submit papers to theirs. The new works and especially by well-instrumented aircraft. It Journal of the Physics of the Atmosphere and Oceans is notable that each of the radar groups has its own edited by Prof. Obukhov appears to be an excellent rain gage network, although the networks were evi- vehicle for this. dently used by others as well. I would urge increased formal and informal exchange Finally, I can only re-emphasize Battan's views on the of publications, reprints, and personal correspondence problem of language. It was immediately evident that among organizations and individual scientists. At the all the Soviet scientists with whom I spoke were familiar colloquium the Soviet Geophysical Committee pre- with the most recent American literature (in most cases, sented us with applications offering the regular distri- including the proceedings of the weather radar confer- bution of publications in every field of geophysics. ences). On the other hand, it was a source of some Scientists interested in receiving such publications embarrassment to me that I was familiar with but a should write to the Soviet Geophysical Committee, few of their works, and only with one as recent as 1964. Molodezhnaya 3, Moscow B-296, USSR, indicating the In part this is due to the unavailability or great delays particular field of interest. Your own exchange publi- in obtaining the Trudy of the various institutes. But cations should be sent to the same address. obviously of more importance is the almost complete neglect of the Russian language in our studies and the Some addresses in the USSR inadequacy of our translation services. It is perhaps Academician E. K. Fedorov, Chief, Hydrometeorological trite, but nevertheless important, to reiterate the needs Service USSR, 12 Pavlik Morozov Street, Moscow, for training in Russian, not only of present students D-376, USSR. but of senior scientists as well. Professor V. V. Beloussou, President, Soviet Geophysical It is difficult to judge how much of the Soviet re- Committee, 3 Molodezhnaya Street, Moscow, B-296 search is based on extensions to that in the West, and USSR.

705

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC Vol. 46, No. 11, November 1965

Professor A. M. Obukhov, Director, Institute of Atmos- Main Geophysical Observatory, 7 Ulitsa Karbusheva, pheric Physics and Editor, Journal of the Physics of Leningrad, K-18, USSR. the Atmosphere and Oceans, 10 B. Gruzinskaya Street, Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Research Institute, Moscow, G-242, USSR, (same address for Prof. A. Bolsha Kitaeyvskaya 105, Kiev 28, Ukraine, USSR. Yaglom, Prof. A. S. Monin, and Drs. V. I. Tatarski Central Aerological Observatory, Moskovskaya Oblast, and G. S. Golitsyn). Gorod Dolgoprudny, USSR.

necrology

Rufus Corday Counts, Jr. 1902-1965 R. Corday Counts, Jr., meteorologist in charge of the Weather Bureau Airport Station, San Francisco, California, died on 24 August after a year-long battle against cancer. Born in Prosperity, South Carolina, Mr. Counts graduated from the State University in 1923. He joined the Weather Bureau at once and after assignments at Columbia and Wil- mington, N. C., Miami, and Trenton, he worked his way west to Denver and then San Francisco in 1932. He became MIC at San Francisco in 1954. He was a member of the Bu- Dr. Norman F. Islitzer reau's first in-service training class, the 1929-30 forecasters' class in Washington, and had taken other Bureau training courses and studied at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. authority in the field of atmospheric turbulence and diffu- He was the author of a number of published technical papers. sion and published many articles in the meteorological jour- Mr. Counts became a member of the American Meteoro- nals and in technical reports of the U. S. Atomic Energy logical Society in 1933 and a professional member in 1946. Commission. He became a professional member of the He served as Councilor of the Society in 1958-1960 and was American Meteorological Society in 1953. also active in the Northern California Chapter, serving two Survivors include his wife, Sandra Crockett Islitzer, whom terms, 1939 and 1948, as chairman. He was a member of the he married in September 1962, and his daughter Julie, aged American Geophysical Union and was secretary of the AGU's 2, of 1569 Cassiopeia, Idaho Falls, Idaho, his mother, Mrs. Pacific Southwest Region for a number of years. Elizabeth Islitzer, and his brother, Will, both of Raymond, He is survived by his mother and his wife, the former Washington.—Lester Machta Mildred Rowland of Trenton, whose address is 1472 Cortez Avenue, Burlingame, California. Arthur Rhodes Long 1901-1965 Norman Frederick Islitzer Arthur R. Long, meteorologist in charge at the Weather 1925-1965 Bureau Airport Station, Dannelly Field, Montgomery, Ala- Norman F. Islitzer, meteorologist-in-charge, Weather Bureau bama, died on 2 July 1965. Research Station, Idaho Falls, Idaho, died of cancer on 21 Mr. Long was a veteran of more than 45 years of Weather August 1965. Bureau service. Starting in 1918 as a laborer and repair man, Dr. Islitzer was born on 8 November 1925 in Raymond, by 1922 he was appointed assistant observer at Broken Ar- Washington. He entered the Army in 1944 and after his row, Oklahoma. During subsequent assignments at Atlanta, military service he studied meteorology at the University Memphis, Meridian, Albuquerque, and Montgomery, he of Washington where he received his B.S. degree in 1951. studied evenings and earned two bachelor's degrees—a B.S. He received both the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Uni- in Education at State Teachers College, Memphis, in 1937 versity of Wisconsin, the latter in 1955. He was the first and a B.A. in Mathematics at Huntingdon College, Mont- candidate at Wisconsin to receive the Ph.D. in meteorology. gomery, in 1957. In 1964 he was awarded a Department of Following graduate study he was employed by the Weather Commerce Silver Medal "for sustained efficiency and devo- Bureau as a research meteorologist at the National Reactor tion to duty for over 44 years in a series of assignments in- Testing Station, Idaho Falls, and continued in this position cluding 14 years as MIC at Montgomery." He joined the until 1957 when he was promoted to meteorologist-in-charge. American Meteorological Society in 1922 and became a pro- His responsibilities included research on atmospheric diffu- fessional member in 1947. sion, techniques in micrometeorology, and meteorological Survivors include his wife, who resides at 1106 Audubon safety aspects of nuclear reactor test operations. He was an Road, Montgomery, Alabama.

706

Unauthenticated | Downloaded 10/09/21 09:43 PM UTC