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<p class="MsoNormal"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Atmospheric
observatory coming to Humboldt; <br>
equipment in </span></b><b style=""><span style="font-size:
16pt;">Eureka</span></b><b style=""><span style="font-size:
16pt;"> area will
help meteorologists <br>
better gauge big winter storms</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John Driscoll/The Times-Standard<br>
<br>
Posted: 02/15/2011
01:30:23 AM PST</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration plans to
build a high-tech <br>
meteorological observatory in the Eureka
area that should help forecasters better understand the source of
California's
largest storms. <br>
<br>
The observatory would be one of four on the California
coast that will be part of a study of so-called atmospheric
rivers, which
transport massive <br>
amounts of water across the Pacific Ocean before dumping
it on land. The agency is looking to improve forecasts for storms
that might lead
to flooding, landslides and severe winds. <br>
<br>
The Eureka-area observatory could begin to be built about a year
from now, said
NOAA research meteorologist Allen White. The unmanned equipment
will include
Doppler wind-profiling radar, GPS and a meteorological tower, all
of which allow
meteorologists to determine the speed of winds in an atmospheric
river and how
much water vapor the winds are transporting. NOAA plans to place
other
observatories in the Bodega Bay,
Big Sur and Santa Barbara
areas. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Atmospheric rivers are ribbons of air between
300 and 500 km
wide -- about 186 to 310 miles -- that form off cyclones or draw
moisture from
over the ocean. ”In essence, they are rivers in the sky,” said
Marty Ralph,
chief of the Water Cycle Branch in NOAA's Physical Science
Division. <br>
Atmospheric rivers are responsible for carrying about 90 percent
of the water
vapor in the Northern Hemisphere, Ralph said. A series of them
brought 11 to 25
inches of rain to areas of California
in mid-December and dumped huge amounts of snow in the Sierra
Nevada
at the time. <br>
<br>
Scientists can see these rivers from space using satellites, but
those
instruments are unable to measure wind speed or water vapor
content. The land-based
observatories are able to do both, giving meteorologists a way to
check
computer <br>
forecast models regarding atmospheric rivers. <br>
<br>
Ralph said that a better understanding of wind speed and water
vapor content in
the atmospheric rivers will help give a better picture of what to
expect when
the rivers flow over land. <br>
<br>
Ralph said that both the speed of the wind and the amount of
moisture in a
river dictate how much precipitation will fall when the river hits
a mountain range.
When the air hits the mountains, it rises and cools, condensing
the water vapor
and causing rainfall. The faster the wind, the more rain, and the
more
moisture, the more rain. <br>
<br>
NOAA also plans to use unmanned aircraft that can fly for 24 hours
or more and
travel at very high and low altitudes. The aircraft will have on
board advanced
water vapor sensors and dropsondes -- devices that will measure
temperature,
wind and other factors when they are dropped. <br>
<br>
The state Department of Water Resources will use the information
gleaned from
the overall project to improve flood response and emergency
preparedness. <br>
<br>
White said that NOAA will be scouting locally for an area to place
the atmospheric
rivers observatory -- which is only about 20 feet by 20 feet --
sometime within
the next six months. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<br>
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