That way they can move more water in advance to protect the people in the county and reduce river levels in the valley. Improving forecasts is a top priority to better operate the spillways. Weather balloons are a helpful tool in improving forecasts. "It's important the balloon be filled approximately the same volume every launch so it goes up to the atmosphere at the same rate," said lead engineer for the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes Douglas Alden. The idea is to send the balloons up with a radiosonde and a GPS to track the whereabouts of the balloon to understand pressure and wind patterns during an atmospheric river. "Is this storm going to impact our watershed and do we need to release water from the reservoir ahead of it? Or this storm going to be going to the south and we should save that water because we need it comes summertime?" Alden said. Weather balloons have the potential to reach up to 82,000 feet before pressure builds up and it pops, floating back down to the earth. "The pressure in the atmosphere decreases in elevation and that means the balloon will continue to expand," Alden said, "by the time it gets up to where it pops, it's probably the size of a small minibus." Atmospheric rivers tend to be narrow and dynamic, and any slight shift in direction could impact which watershed sees the most rain. It's best to know ahead of time where it's going, especially in a place like Yuba County which is prone to flooding. "Once the balloon gets above the atmospheric river, that's really useful information for the weather forecast models. With this, we've demonstrated we can provide enough lee time so they can be more effective in those management decisions," Alden said. The engineers are launching balloons every three hours until the atmospheric river ends. Yuba Water Agency says the second atmospheric river spillway should be operational in the next four to five years using data compiled from days like Thursday.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Yuba Water Agency and partners launch weather balloons to study atmospheric rivers )
Also on site :