11.3
Optimizing the Ceilometer Tilt Angle: A Case Study Analysis
PAPER WITHDRAWN
David M. Giles, Raytheon Information Technology and Scientific Services, Sterling, VA
Ceilometer detection of cloud base height (CBH) can be adversely affected by falling rain drops or snow flakes. A strong increase in signal return due to precipitation causes the ceilometer to interpret CBH much lower than the actual CBH. A recent study by the National Weather Service (NWS) Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) program showed that 25,000-foot (25K) ceilometers tilted by 8 degrees do not significantly improve performance over a vertically-pointed ceilometers in liquid precipitation. The ASOS program extended this study for three months to explore tilt angles between 1 and 15 degrees from vertical during periods of liquid precipitation.
Session 11, Clouds and Visibility
Thursday, 18 January 2001, 1:30 PM-2:59 PM
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