Because so many of the researchers who regularly use Langmuir Laboratory were involved in STEPS (see below), Langmuir Laboratory did not officially open during the summer of 2000. Ironically, it was fortunate that a busy season was not scheduled this year, because during the early part of the summer the Magdalena District of the Cibola National Forest, where the Lab and its facilities are located, was closed to entry due to an extreme danger of forest fires caused by a dry winter and spring.
There were no full-time residents in the Lab buildings, the water system was not hooked up, and there were no provisions for visitors. The gate about a mile below the main Lab building remained closed and locked.
Some projects begun in earlier seasons by local investigators did continue at the Lab despite the forest closure, and they are described in the sections following STEPS.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ELECTRIFICATION AND PRECIPITATION STUDY (STEPS) - Mid-May through Mid-July
Starting early in the year, atmospheric researchers throughout the country have been preparing for a multi-organizational study of low-precipitation, supercell storms along the Colorado/Kansas border. The STEPS project was centered in the area surrounding Goodland, Kansas, from the middle of May until mid-July 2000. Funding for the 8-week research effort was largely provided by the National Science Foundation through competitive research proposals.
A comprehensive web site about STEPS prepared by the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research ( UCAR) gives detailed information about the participants, the logistics, and the scientific overview of the project, and provides links to some of the data and early results that were collected.
Several researchers at New Mexico Tech received funding to participate in the STEPS
program:
Time-of-Arrival Lightning Mapping System
The lightning mapping instrument array was deployed over a four-county
area near Goodland, Kansas. It uses GPS signals to accurately time
the arrival of RF radiation from lightning at the 13 remote stations.
From the time of arrival data the three-dimensional locations of the
RF radiation sources can be determined, and 3-D maps of the lightning
channels can be produced in real-time displays. Also, electric field data
from field mills and slow antennas are recorded at each remote station.
See 3-D Lightning
Mapping for more information and animated early results, and visit Lightning
Mapping during STEPS 2000 for the most recent results. Also see
USA Today for an article about use of the array during STEPS. [This
project funded in part by NSF Grants ATM
9912073 and ATM
9601652.]
In collaboration with the Lightning Mapping Array, Mark Stanley,
is operating the New Mexico Tech interferometer near Burlington, CO,
to study sprites,
which are typically found above large thunderstorm systems and are
associated with postive cloud-to-ground lightning discharges. Also
see the sprite
homepage at New Mexico Tech, and a recent publication in . [This
project funded in part by LANL/NUCOR.] Two kinds of instruments designed and built at New Mexico Tech were
carried into severe storms by South Dakota School of Mines' armored T-28
airplane during STEPS. One instrument makes images of graupel and hail
particles inside thunderclouds and simultaneously measures their charges.
The other instruments measure electric fields where the airplane flies.
Data from these instruments, and from the Lightning Mapping Array,
will be analzed to understand the connection between electric field
and the paths of lightning discharges. In addition, a newly-designed
electric-field measuring instrument that is light enough to be carried
aloft by helium-filled balloons was tested. [Funded in part by NSF Grant
ATM 0070934.]
A balloon-borne instrument that can record changes in electric field
and x-ray or gamma emissions at altitudes up to and above the tops of
storms will be used to test hypotheses for the production of transient
luminous events, such as red sprites and blue jets. These events have been
observed in the middle atmosphere above thunderstorms. In collaboration with
scientists at Los Alamos National Lab and the National Severe Storms Lab, this
team hopes to gain a new understanding of lightning discharge processes, the
role of runaway electron processes in initiation of discharges, and the
development of lightning leaders. [Funded in part by NSF Grant ATM
0075730.]
The following projects take place throughout the summer by local
researchers who travel to the Lab on an unscheduled basis. These are generally
projects that continue from previous years.
Lightning Rods - June through August
Pairs of sharp and blunt lightning rods on 20-foot masts
are arranged around the Kiva on South Baldy Peak to study their
responses when lightning strikes. High-speed digitizers measure
currents flowing during both naturally-occurring lightning and
triggered lightning events. Read about recent results published in
GRL, and JAM
and a press
release reporting that blunt rods performed better than traditional
sharp lightning rods in this study. Lightning Triggering - August (after STEPS)
From the vicinity of South Baldy Peak, small wire-trailing rockets
will be launched into electrified clouds overhead. The resulting triggered lightning will be useful
to several related projects (see Lightning Rods). [Funded in part by the
NM Space Grant Consotrium.] Biogenic Emissions - Mid-June through mid-July
This study will examine biogenic emissions from local vegetation
that may contribute to the production of ozone, such as hydrocarbons,
carboxylic acids, and ketones. Emissions are quantified from ponderosa
pines in the Laboratory area, as well as cottonwood trees in the Rio
Grande valley, to examine seasonal distributions. Ecological Studies - June through August
Biologists with the Long Term Ecological Research program at the
Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico continue to
look at various plant, rodent, and arthropod populations at sites in the
vicinity of Langmuir Lab, and will continue to operate a meteorological
data station at the Lab. They are also analyzing population fluctuations
in mammals for possible correlation with broad climatic data. (See the
UNM Sevilleta LTER informational
pages.) Astronomy / Magdalena Ridge Observatory - June through August
Planning for the Magdalena
Ridge Observatory will continue. The road is being surveyed,
and preparation for environmental impact studies continues. (See the
October 1999
press release for information, as well as the Physics
Department's
MRO page.) Corona Chemistry - July and August
Chemists will set up devices at West Knoll to sample
and test for hydrocarbon concentrations as a function of
electric fields, nitrogen oxides, ozone, particulates, and
mercury. The particulates are collected at the site and taken
to campus laboratories for analysis. Hydrocarbons collected are
processed in a gas chromatograph in a trailer on West Knoll.
Lightning Warning System - August (after STEPS)
The electric field monitoring system at the Laboratory is being
reprogrammed to work under the Linux operating system. The monitoring
system is used to help determine suitable times for triggering lightning.
(Read more here.)
[Funded in part by the
NM Space Grant
Consotrium.]
Thundercloud Electrification Studies
Gamma Emissions and Electric-Field Changes in and above Thunderstorms in
STEPS
Last updated 07 December 2001 by kieft@nmt.edu.