A REAL-TIME 3-D CLOUD SIMULATION SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR IMPLEMENTING A REALTIME, THREE-DIMENSIONAL CLOUD MODEL TO SUPPORT REENTRY VEHICLE TEST OPERATIONS. AN EXISTING RESEARCH CLOUD MODEL WOULD BE INTERFACED TO A MESOSCALE ATMOSPHERIC MODEL. THE COMBINED MODELING SYSTEM WOULD BE ADAPTED FOR USE AT THE KWAJALEIN MISSILE RANGE (KMR). FORECASTS OF DETAILED CLOUD FEATURES SUCH AS WATER CONTENT, RADAR REFLECTIVITY AND HYDROMETEOR SIZE DISTRIBUTIONS WOULD BE GENERATED WITH 1 KM RESOLUTION FOR TIMES OUT TO FOUR HOURS. THE NEED FOR DETAILED CLOUD FORECASTS IS DISCUSSED. A BRIEF REVIEW OF MATHEMATICAL ATMOSPHERIC MODELS IS PRESENTED AND A MODEL HIERARCHY FOR IMPLEMENTING CIRRUS CLOUD FORECASTS AT KMR IS PROPOSED. THE SUITABILITY OF THE TROPICAL ATMOSPHERE, AND KMR IN PARTICULAR, AS A SITE FOR OPERATIONAL CLOUD MODELING IS EXPLAINED.