AN EXPENDABLE DEVICE FOR MEASURING SUPERCOOLED LIQUID WATER IN CLOUDS

IN THE PROPOSED RESEARCH THE FEASABILITY WILL BE ESTABLISHEDFOR DEVELOPING A LOW-COST EXPENDABLE TRANSDUCER MOUNTED IN ANATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TYPE RADIOSONDE TO MEASURE VERTICALPROFILES OF SUPERCOOLED LIQUID WATER. THE TRANSDUCER IS BASED UPON A WIRE WHOSE NATURAL VIBRATION FREQUENCY VARIES ACCORDING TO THE AMOUNT OF ICE COLLECTED ON THE WIRE. THE RESEARCH WILL EXAMINE THE EFFECTS ON THE THE RESULTS OF VARIATIONS IN TEMPERATURE, AIRFLOW, DROP SIZE DISTRIBUTION AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY, OF SUPERCOOLED LIQUID WATER CONCENT- TRATION. TWO ALTERNATE FORMS OF THE TRANSDUCER SYSTEM WILL BE USED, ON A SMALL COIL TO SENSE THE VIBRATIONS, THE OTHER, AN OPTICAL SENSING METHOD. A SERIES OF EFFECTS BEING EXAMINED AND TO COMPARE THE SUPERCOOLED LIQUID WATER CONCENTRATIONS DERIVED FROM THE TWO TRANSDUCER FORMS AND A STANDARD METHOD OF MEASUREMENT BY A FAST ROTATING ROD. VARIOUS TYPES OF RADIOSONDE SYSTEMS WILL BE SURVEYED TO ASSESS THEIR APPROPRIATENESS FOR USE WITH THE VIBRATING WIRE.