graphs and shit

docs/SNOWIE.md

@@ -1,35 +1,39 @@
-# SNOWIE Project: Quantifying Snowfall from Orographic Cloud Seeding
+# SNOWIE (Seeded and Natural Orographic Wintertime Clouds: The Idaho Experiment)
 
 ## Introduction
 
-The Seeded and Natural Orographic Wintertime Clouds: The Idaho Experiment (SNOWIE) project aimed to quantify snowfall generated by cloud seeding in mountain cloud systems. This study introduced a physically-based approach to unambiguously isolate and quantify precipitation generated by cloud seeding.
+SNOWIE marked a turning point in cloud seeding technology. Conducted from 2017 to 2021 in Idaho's Payette Mountains, this experiment introduced groundbreaking innovations that addressed longstanding challenges in the field.
 
 ### Background
 
 - Climate change and population growth have increased water demand in arid regions
 - Cloud seeding has been evaluated as a potential technology to increase water supply
 - Previous studies relied on statistical comparisons, often with inconclusive results
 
-### Study Focus
+For decades, cloud seeding suffered from "the attribution problem." Despite 70 years of practice, the industry struggled to definitively prove its effectiveness. This lack of clear evidence led to skepticism and diminished commercial interest.
 
-The study focused on three cloud seeding events in January 2017 in the Payette basin of Idaho, using:
+## Innovations
 
-1. A network of precipitation gauges
-2. Two ground-based radars
-3. Airborne cloud seeding with silver iodide (AgI)
+### 1. High-Resolution Mobile Radar
 
----
+SNOWIE developed portable, high-resolution radar systems that could be deployed directly in seeding areas, offering unprecedented detail in cloud analysis. These radars allowed researchers to:
 
-## Methods
+- Measure precise cloud conditions before and after seeding
+- Detect clear signatures of water-to-ice phase changes
+- Attribute rainfall to seeding efforts with remarkable accuracy
+
+### 2. Perpendicular Flight Path
 
-### Novel Approach
+SNOWIE aircraft flew perpendicular to the crosswind direction, creating a distinctive "zebra pattern" of precipitation. This uniform spacing made it far easier to distinguish seeded rainfall from natural precipitation.
 
-The researchers employed a unique method to isolate seeding-induced precipitation:
+### 3. Novel Approach to Isolate Seeding-Induced Precipitation
 
-1. Identified areas with light or no natural precipitation (<1 mm/h)
-2. Used radar observations to track spatial and temporal evolution
-3. Quantified snowfall accumulation using radar data and snow gauge measurements
-4. Developed relationships between radar reflectivity (Ze) and liquid equivalent snowfall rate (S)
+- Identified areas with light or no natural precipitation (<1 mm/h)
+- Used radar observations to track spatial and temporal evolution
+- Quantified snowfall accumulation using radar data and snow gauge measurements
+- Developed relationships between radar reflectivity (Ze) and liquid equivalent snowfall rate (S)
+
+## Methods
 
 ### Data Collection
 
@@ -39,21 +43,19 @@ The researchers employed a unique method to isolate seeding-induced precipitatio
 
 > All data are publicly available through the SNOWIE data archive website and the SNOWIE radar data archive.
 
----
-
 ## Results and Discussion
 
+SNOWIE's advancements enabled researchers to measure seeding-induced rainfall with extraordinary precision - within an accuracy of 100,000 gallons. In some cases, a single day's operation produced 100-121 acre-feet of water, equivalent to hundreds of millions of gallons.
+
 ### January 19, 2017 Event
 
 #### Seeding Operations
 - Two seeding lines passed over multiple gauge sites
 - Airborne cloud seeding began at 1619 UTC
 
 #### Gauge Measurements
-- **Five Corners**: 
-  - Increase of ~0.1 mm (1.2 mm/h) over 5 minutes
-- **Banner**: 
-  - Increase of ~0.1 mm over 14 minutes
+- **Five Corners**: Increase of ~0.1 mm (1.2 mm/h) over 5 minutes
+- **Banner**: Increase of ~0.1 mm over 14 minutes
 
 #### Total Accumulation
 - **Best-match estimate**: 123,220 m³ (100 acre-feet) over 67 minutes
@@ -74,8 +76,7 @@ The researchers employed a unique method to isolate seeding-induced precipitatio
 - Two lines passed over the Silver Creek gauge site
 
 #### Gauge Measurements
-- **Silver Creek**: 
-  - Increase of 0.28 mm over 38 minutes
+- **Silver Creek**: Increase of 0.28 mm over 38 minutes
 
 #### Total Accumulation
 - **Best-match estimate**: 241,260 m³ (196 acre-feet) over 160 minutes
@@ -96,8 +97,7 @@ The researchers employed a unique method to isolate seeding-induced precipitatio
 - Strong vertical wind shear observed
 
 #### Gauge Measurements
-- **Silver Creek**: 
-  - Increase of 0.25 mm over 25 minutes
+- **Silver Creek**: Increase of 0.25 mm over 25 minutes
 
 #### Total Accumulation
 - **Best-match estimate**: 339,540 m³ (275 acre-feet) over 25 minutes
@@ -111,8 +111,6 @@ The researchers employed a unique method to isolate seeding-induced precipitatio
 | 5th        | 187,004           |
 | 95th       | 480,420           |
 
----
-
 ## Key Findings and Significance
 
 ### Quantitative Evidence
@@ -142,7 +140,20 @@ The researchers employed a unique method to isolate seeding-induced precipitatio
 2. **Methodology**: Introduces a physically-based approach to isolate seeding-induced precipitation
 3. **Future Applications**: Sets the stage for validating numerical models and improving interpretation of precipitation observations
 
----
+## Impact on the Industry
+
+SNOWIE's success was a catalyst. Rainmaker now aims to replicate and build upon these measurement techniques, bringing cloud seeding into the realm of data-driven, scientifically-validated technology.
+
+By solving the attribution problem, SNOWIE has potentially opened the door for a renaissance in weather modification.
+
+## Historical Context
+
+Prior to SNOWIE, cloud seeding relied on less precise methods:
+- Planes dispersing agents with limited control
+- Ground-based "bonfires" spewing chemicals skyward
+- Rudimentary rain gauges for measurement
+
+These methods often resulted in immeasurable or statistically insignificant increases in precipitation, making it difficult to justify the cost and effort involved.
 
 ## Future Work
 
@@ -152,23 +163,4 @@ The researchers employed a unique method to isolate seeding-induced precipitatio
 2. Studying environmental conditions and cloud dynamic/microphysical processes
 3. Validating numerical models that simulate microphysical impacts of cloud seeding
 4. Improving interpretation of precipitation observations during cloud seeding operations
-5. Quantifying AgI seeding effects over target areas at different time scales using ensemble approaches
-
----
-
-## Conclusion
-
-The SNOWIE project provided unprecedented quantitative evidence of snowfall generated by cloud seeding in orographic winter storms. By combining advanced radar technology with precipitation gauge measurements, the researchers were able to isolate and measure seeding-induced snowfall with greater confidence than previous studies.
-
-> This work lays the foundation for improved understanding and potential optimization of cloud seeding as a water resource management tool.
-
----
-
-## References
-
-1. Vonnegut, B. (1947). The nucleation of ice formation by silver iodide. J. Appl. Phys. 18, 593-595.
-2. Rauber, R. M. et al. (2019). Wintertime orographic cloud seeding. Appl. Meteor. Climatol. 58, 2117-2140.
-3. French, J. R. et al. (2018). Precipitation formation from orographic cloud seeding. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 115, 1168-1173.
-4. Tessendorf, S. A. et al. (2019). A transformational approach to winter orographic weather modification research: The SNOWIE Project. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 100, 71-92.
-
-[Full list of references available in the original paper]
+5. Quantifying AgI seeding effects over target areas at different time scales using ensemble approaches

docs/index.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 ## Introduction
 
-This guide provides a comprehensive overview of cloud seeding, its processes, meteorological conditions, and scientific studies. I am writing this to use as a reference to help me at my job. But it is designed for anyone interested in weather modification techniques.
+This guide provides a comprehensive overview of cloud seeding, its processes, meteorological conditions, and scientific studies. I am writing this to use as a reference to build upon as I learn more about the field. But it is designed for anyone interested in weather modification techniques.
 
 This site is a living document, continuously updated with information as I learn more. For suggestions, corrections, or contributions, please contact me ([email protected]).
 

docs/meteorology.md

@@ -1,5 +1,117 @@
 # Meteorology 
 
+94.9% of the quantity of water of various forms on Earth is found in the oceans. 0.001% of Earth's total water can be found in the atmosphere in the form of water vapor. However, in absolute terms, this is still a huge amount -- this entitles each person to several thousand tons of their own water. This atmosopheric vapor has the potential to be harnessed.
+
+Nuclei are important and are the reason clouds form.
+
+Supersaturation of water vapor occurs when the relative humidity exceeds 100%.
+
+Nuclei provide surfaces for water vapor to condense upon, facilitating droplet formation in supersaturated conditions.
+
+Natural nuclei include sea salt, dust, and organic particles. Anthropogenic nuclei are human-made particles such as industrial emissions or smoke.
+
+A cloud is a visible aggregate of minute water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.
+
+Cloud drops and raindrops differ primarily in size, with larger radii correlating to faster fall speeds and longer survival before evaporation.
+
+Condensation is the process by which water vapor molecules aggregate to form liquid water.
+
+Relative humidity increases as air cools. At 100%, saturation occurs, establishing an equilibrium between evaporation and condensation rates.
+
+At saturation, the pressure is called the saturation vapor pressure. The vapor pressure of air saturated with water vapor depends only on the temperature of the air. As the temperature rises, the saturation vapor pressure increases.
+
+The point in the cooling process at whivh condensation begins is called the dew point. It occurs when the relative humidity reaches 100%. The temperature of the air at which condensation begins is called the dew point temperature.
+
+In the atmosphere, relative humidities rarely exceed 101%, and even those 1% supersaturations occur only in very strong updrafts in thunderstorms. So how then can cloud droplets form?
+
+Because the tendency of very tiny droplets to evaporate is counteracted by the affinity of certain substances for water molecules -- for example, a particle of sea salt is very hygroscopic, so condensation can occur with relative humiidties of only 50-60%.
+
+Relative humidity = (Actual water pressure \ Saturation water pressure) * 100
+
+#### Fog formation through radiative cooling:
+1. Lower atmosphere radiates heat
+2. Earth's surface cools
+3. Moist air near surface cools to dew point
+4. Water vapor condenses into tiny droplets
+5. Suspended droplets form fog layer
+6. Upper dry air limits vertical extent
+
+This process typically occurs on clear nights with calm winds, creating a shallow fog layer near the ground.
+
+The Growth of a Cloud:
+
+Pressure decreases with height -- when a body of air rises, it moves from higher pressure ot lower pressure, and expands as its temperature is reduced. If the air is dry and no heat is added or taken away as the air ascends, it cools at the rate of 1C per 100 meters.
+
+The rate at which air cools as it rises is called the lapse rate. The dry adiabatic lapse rate is the rate at which air cools as it rises in the atmosphere.
+
+As air rises and its temperature decreases, the relative humidity of thehair increases until saturation ocurs and condensation begins. 
+
+When you step out of the pool into dry air, the cooling effects of water evaporating from your skin causes a cooling effect. This is called evaporative cooling. The opposite is true as the water vapor condenses in clouds; heat is added. The quantity of head transferred for each gram is known as the latent heat of vaporizatio and is equal to about 600 calories per gram.
+
+The clouds we see every day are indications of regions of rising air in which condensation has occured on small condensation nuclei.  The forms of the clouds depend on the character of hte field of vertical motion.
+
+Freezing Ice:
+
+If you had a quantity of absolutely pure water, and sealed it in an absolutely clean bottle, and brought the temperature to 32F, the water would not freeze. It may not even freeze at 20F or 0F. It can in fact be supercooled by great amounts, especially if the quantity of water is small -- like a droplet in a cloud. It can fall to -40F before they are certainly frozen into ice.
+
+Big idea: The saturation vapor pressure of water is higher than that of ice at the same subfreezing temperature. A cloud of supercooled water droplets may have air that is saturated with respect to water, but supersaturated with respect to ice.
+
+It's been proposed that the relationship between smaller volumes of water and the amount of energy required to freeze them is a function of the probability that the water has a special particle on which the ice can begin to grow at modest degrees of supercooling. This particle is called an ice-crystal nucleus.
+
+Without an ice-crystal nucleus, ice may form only by the accidental grouping of a large number of water molecules into an aggregation resembling ice. -40F is the temperature at which the molecules are cool enough, and therefore move slowly enough, that there is suddenly a strong enough possibility that the hydrogen and oxygen atoms spontaneously arrange themselves into a crystal structure that forms an ice nucleus.
+
+One raindrop has a volume approximately one million times larger than a cloud droplet. However, a raindrop is not just a cloud droplet that has continued to grow in size to become large enough to fall to Earth.
+
+The process of condensation does not go on indefinitely. Let's say water vapor condenses on fine particle of sea salt, when they air is supersaturated with respect to the growing droplet. The sea salt particle will attract water molecules even when the relative humidity is less than 100% because the equilibrium humidity over a salt solution is lower than that over pure water.
+
+As the drop grows, the relative amount of salt that makes up the solution decreases and it gets closer and closer to a pure water solution. Now, the droplet may only continue to grow if the surrounding air is supersaturated with respect to pure water -- i.e, a relative humidity greater than 100%. 
+
+Therefore: The larger the drop, the slower it grows. And, the higher the supersaturation, the greater the number of cloud droplets. Therefore, condensation alone cannot lead to rainfall. Instead, rainfall occurs in one of two ways. 
+
+1) Formation via the ice-crystal process
+
+Recall that a cloud of supercooled water droplets may have air that is saturated with respect to water, but supersaturated with respect to ice. If some ice-crystal nuclei are suddenly introduced into the cloud, the cloud system becomes unstable. 
+
+Water vapor molecules deposit on the ice crystals, and immediately the air is no longer saturated with respect to water. Consequently, some water evaporates from the cloud droplets to make up for hte losses to the crystals. This evaporation again leads to supersaturation with respect to the ice -- the crystal grows larger -- water molecules deposit on the larger ice crystals -- the cycles continues. 
+
+```mermaid
+graph TD
+    A[Mixed-Phase Cloud] --> B{Temperature < 0°C?}
+    B -->|No| C[Remain Liquid Droplets]
+    B -->|Yes| D[Supercooled Liquid Water]
+    D --> E{Ice Nuclei Present?}
+    E -->|No| F[Remain Supercooled]
+    E -->|Yes| G[Ice Crystal Formation]
+    G --> H[Water Vapor Deposits on Ice]
+    H --> I[Ice Crystals Grow]
+    I --> J[Supercooled Droplets Evaporate]
+    J --> K[Water Vapor Transfers to Ice]
+    K --> L{Ice Crystals Large Enough?}
+    L -->|No| H
+    L -->|Yes| M[Ice Crystals Fall as Precipitation]
+    
+    subgraph Supersaturation
+    N[Air Saturated w.r.t Water]
+    O[Air Supersaturated w.r.t Ice]
+    end
+    
+    N --> D
+    O --> H
+```
+
+2) Formation via the coalescence process
+
+What about in the tropics, where it is clear that clouds much above freezing will create rain without the presence of ice nuclei?
+
+The coalescence process is the process by which cloud droplets grow by colliding with other droplets and merging.
+
+A droplet of 10-micron radius falls at a speed of 1cm/sec, while droplets of 50-micron radius fall at a speed of 26cm/sec. The larger drops overtake smaller ones and collide with them. 
+
+Two colliding drops do not necessarily coalesce -- they may bounce off eachother. But still, as they fall, the larger droplets grow at the expense of the smaller ones. The fraction of the droplets within the vertical path of the falling droplet that actually hit the large drop is called the collision efficiency. 
+
+pg70
+
+
 ## 1. Conditions for Cloud Seeding
 
 ### 1.1 Supercooled Liquid Water (SLW)

mkdocs.yml

@@ -35,4 +35,11 @@ nav:
   - Impact: impact.md
   - SNOWIE: SNOWIE.md
   - WWMPP: WWMPP.md
-  # - POPEYE: POPEYE.md
+  # - POPEYE: POPEYE.md
+
+markdown_extensions:
+  - pymdownx.superfences:
+      custom_fences:
+        - name: mermaid
+          class: mermaid
+          format: !!python/name:pymdownx.superfences.fence_code_format