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#11
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"Icebound" wrote in message ... Based on NOAA's description, Composite is just *the strongest* of the echoes from the scans at many elevations. My server rejected this post last night with an error... then magically it appeared only after I posted a repeat. The repeat is somewhat more accurate. Ignore this one. |
#12
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iflyatiger wrote:
"iflyatiger" wrote in message ... Peter , I am also interested in the weather. Here is 2 screen shots I just took of a composite and a base reflectivity radar. Maybe someone can describe what we are lookin at. How about posting them at alt.binaries.pictures.aviation [hope that's the right name, my news server here at work doesn't have the binaries groups] and then posting a pointer to them back here?... or better yet, put them on a web server. Dave |
#13
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"Jay Beckman" wrote in message news:kowie.10549$Fv.335@lakeread01... In light of the fact that summer thunderstorm activity is coming quickly (and our traditional "monsoon" season) here in the desert, this subject is very interesting. In reading the descriptions of "Base" vs "Composite" at the NWS website, am I taking away the right idea: Base: Image derived from a single radar azimuth Composite: Image derived from multiple radar azimuths then, well, composited into one 2D top-down view? Jay Beckman PP-ASEL Chandler, AZ No, like Iceman says, the composite shows the most intense echo over a range of antenna tilts (elevations). The base image shows one elevation. Both composite and base images show all azimuths. The antenna on a NEXRAD site is so large (resulting in a very narrow beam) that it can easily scan above or below the area of the storm holding the water. You could have a massive supercell and the beam might pass right under the storm at low tilt angles (elevation). The composite would show the storm unless it is directly over the antenna. Mike MU-2 |
#14
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"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
ink.net... No, like Iceman says, the composite shows the most intense echo over a range of antenna tilts (elevations). The base image shows one elevation. Both composite and base images show all azimuths. The antenna on a NEXRAD site is so large (resulting in a very narrow beam) that it can easily scan above or below the area of the storm holding the water. You could have a massive supercell and the beam might pass right under the storm at low tilt angles (elevation). The composite would show the storm unless it is directly over the antenna. Mike MU-2 Thanks Mike and "Ice" good explanations... Jay B |
#15
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The comment that "even airplanes can be lifted uncontrollably"
deserves a real world example, for those of you that have never experienced it. During one flight in the south during the summer thunderstorm season, I was using my Strikefinder and input from ground controllers to fly through what appeared to be a 80 to 100nm wide gap in a line of thunderstorms. I was at 6,000' MSL and got into the soup as I entered the area. A few minutes into it, the rain picked up, it got dark, the rain got harder, it got darker, etc. But the ride was smooth and I was nicely centered up the the gap with cells off to both sides. All of a sudden, the VSI pegged indicating a climb of greater than 4,000 FPM. With both throttles closed and a picth angle of about 20 degrees down, I was still going up at better than 4,000 FPM. This was in a Piper Aztec that weighted in at about 4800 pounds at that moment in time. The updraft persisted about 30 seconds and resulted in a +2,000' altitude deviation even after my best efforts to stop it, which I reported to ATC as time permitted along with asking for an update on what he was seeing on his radar. The response was that I was about through the stuff and sure enough, I popped out into nice weather in another couple of minutes. Don't underestimate the power of a building convective storm. It can suck you up in a hurry. Likewise, understand the even more dangerous downdrafts when the storm is dissapating. Flying along down low and encountering a 4,000 FPM to 6,000 FPM downdraft would ruin your whole day. "Stan Gosnell" wrote in message ... "Peter R." wrote in news:1116341209.145697.282000 @z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.com: First, a rather basic question: Why is it that all of the moisture that appears in a composite reflectivity map is not all falling? Is this due to the strength of the updrafts within the cell? It seems to me that moisture that appears that heavy on radar would be heavy enough to all fall out of the cloud. The updrafts can be very intense. How do you think baseball-sized hail occurs? Water drops get lifted so high they freeze, then eventuall fall, only be lifted again after picking up more water, and the process repeats until the ice ball gets large enough to finally fall through the updrafts or else (more likely) gets thrown completely out of the updrafts horizonally, and falls. If thunderstorm updrafts can lift huge chunks of ice, they can certainly hold up water drops, and even airplanes can be lifted uncontrollably. -- Regards, Stan "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." B. Franklin |
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