Hail Detector and Forecaster ArtAr-HDF

This article describes a new and low-cost microwave passive sensor for hail prediction (forecasting) and detection developed in Armenia, which can be used to implement fully autonomous and automatically functioning hail protection of locally limited or large agricultural and urban areas in order to prevent, suppress or catch hail in traps. The article also presents the results of measurements of the intrinsic emission characteristics of water and ice, rain and hail clouds, carried out in laboratory and field conditions in the Ku-band of radio frequencies. The results obtained showed that the intrinsic emission of a hail cloud in the Ku-band of radio frequencies differs significantly from the intrinsic emission of a rain cloud. The presented results show that indeed the radar is not very suitable for the timely detection and determination of hail with a high probability, which is very important for the timely starting up of anti-hail protection means. On the contrary, radiometers (passive microwave sensors) can become an effective sensing tool for timely detection and recognition of hail with a high probability of long-range approaches up to ~12 - 15 km.

OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF LIGHTNING CHARACTERISTICS IN HAIL-PRODUCING CLOUDS

1 INTRODUCTION Lightning is a phenomenon of atmospheric electricity with convective storms. Since the 1960＇s, its characteristics during weather processes of torrential rain, hails and tornadoes have been widely studied and a lot of attempts made to probe into the mechanisms responsible for the formation of lightningIll, giving rise to two theories explaining the lightning genesis, from the points of convection and ice-phase precipitation, respectively, In addition, some studies show, from various aspects, that lightning of severe convective weather. indicates the occurrence There has been lack of concrete indices to identify lightning features and determine hail-producing clouds. Apart from diagnostic . analysis based on conventional data , this work studies the evolution of lightning in 11 hails using relevant records and Doppler radar information and sums up a number of lightning features for hail weather in the sub-plateau area of Gansu province by taking as the criterion whether convective clouds cause hails in determining hail-producing clouds. In Gansu, hailproducing clouds usually originate from mountainous areas, follow fixed routes of movement and are often accompanied with heavy rainfall as they produce hails in more than a spot in the life cycle. To mitigate losses, it is essential to use scientific detectors to warn of hail weather in advance and conduct weather modification to check the growth of hails. The weather radar is an efficient tool to watch and forecast severe convective weather like hails, for it not only detects the structure but also tracks down the generation and evolution of hail-producing clouds to aid in isolating where the hail falls. It is, however, not realistic to perform real-time radar watch in Northwest China and existing radars are not capable of observing thunderstorms. Costing relatively low to purchase and maintain, the lightning locator has wide range of measurement and works nonstop without human attendance, making it easier to watch large-scale convective clouds in the region. With hails, heavy rains and tornadoes isolated and warned of based on features captured by the locator, operations of weather modification can be made more efficient with further identification from radar echoes and observed facts of electric mechanisms can be better understood for convective weather.