Seasonal and interannual changes in cirrus

Statistics on cirrus clouds using the multispectral data from the GOES/VAS satellite have been collected since 1985. The method used to diagnose cirrus clouds and a summary of the first two years of data was given in Wylie and Menzel (1989) and at the 1988 FIRE meeting in Vail, CO. This study was expanded to three years of data which allows a more detailed discussion of the geographical and seasonal changes in cloud cover. Interannual changes in cloud cover also were studied. GOES/VAS cloud retrievals also were compared to atmospheric dynamic parameters and to radiative attenuation data taken by a lidar. Some of the highlights of these studies are discussed

Where are cirrus clouds and why are they there

The cirrus cloud climatology of Wylie and Menzel (1988) and some ancillary studies of cirrus clouds that have been made using the same data are summarized. The Wylie and Menzel climatology is a data set of cloud statistics extracted from the GOES/VAS satellite. With these data the geographical distributions of clouds, the seasonal changes, some diurnal changes, and also what atmospheric conditions cause the clouds can be described

Minimum Energy Routing through Interactive Techniques (MERIT) modeling

The MERIT program is designed to demonstrate the feasibility of fuel savings by airlines through improved route selection using wind observations from their own fleet. After a discussion of weather and aircraft data, manually correcting wind fields, automatic corrections to wind fields, and short-range prediction models, it is concluded that improvements in wind information are possible if a system is developed for analyzing wind observations and correcting the forecasts made by the major models. One data handling system, McIDAS, can easily collect and display wind observations and model forecasts. Changing the wind forecasts beyond the time of the most recent observations is more difficult; an Australian Mesoscale Model was tested with promising but not definitive results

The 27-28 October 1986 FIRE cirrus case study: Meteorology and clouds

Detailed descriptions of the rawinsonde resolved meteorological conditions (3 hourly soundings) associated with a succession of five distinct mesoscale cirrus cloud regimes, that were intensively observed over a 36 hour period, are given. The synoptic scale systems in which these features were embedded are described and a brief overview of the experiment is given. Regional analyses of the static stability structure and vertical motion are presented and interpreted with respect to the characteristics of the corresponding cloud fields as deduced from satellite and lidar observations. The cloud fields exhibited a high degree of persistent mesoscale organization on scales of 20 to 500 km reflecting corresponding scales of dynamic and thermodynamic structure/variability as on the synoptic scale. Cloud generation was usually confined to layers less than 1 km deep (typically 0.5 km in depth) and cellular organization was evident in most cases irrespective of the thermal stratification. Multilayered development was prevalent (2 to 3 layers) and was associated with vertical structure of the temperature and moisture fields resulting primarily from vertical gradients in horizontal advection

Synoptic conditions producing cirrus during the FIRE cirrus IFO

Although direct observations of cirrus clouds by the FIRE research aircraft were usually confined to the area of Intensive Field Observation (IFO) surface network, these cirrus were generally part of a more extensive zone of upper level cloudiness. It is these large scale patterns of cirriform cloud and their relationship to the corresponding synoptic environment which are the prime focus. Three conceptual models are presented and each of the individual cases are classified into one of these categories. Although the cases manifest significant differences in intensity and small scale structure, it is believed that they are best viewed in this unified context. The descriptions given are mostly qualitative, however, quantitative descriptions of the synoptic control and its relationship to cloud structure for all the IFO cases are summarized. The synoptic situations in which extensive cirriform clouds were observed are classified into three basic types: warm front cases, cold front cases, and closed low aloft cases. A simplified summary of each type of situation is presented

Examining public service motivation in the voluntary sector: implications for public management

Building on research about the nature of Public Service Motivation (PSM) and its application outside the public sector, the authors provide a qualitative based examination of PSM's relevance to voluntary sector employees. In doing so, they explore how far their motivations extend beyond those encompassed within current conceptualisations of PSM and whether PSM research can be enriched through the adoption of qualitative methodologies. The findings suggest that PSM accounts for some, but not all, of the motives of voluntary sector employees and indicate that public sector managers involved in outsourcing public services need to be sensitive to their distinctive features

The relationship of marine stratus to synoptic conditions

The marine stratus which persistently covered most of the eastern Pacific Ocean, had large clear areas during the FIRE Intensive Field Operations (IFO) in 1987. Clear zones formed inside the large oceanic cloud mass on almost every day during the IFO. The location and size of the clear zones varied from day to day implying that they were related to dynamic weather conditions and not to oceanic conditions. Forecasting of cloud cover for aircraft operations during the IFO was directed towards predicting when and where the clear and broken zones would form inside the large marine stratus cloud mass. The clear zones often formed to the northwest of the operations area and moved towards it. However, on some days the clear zones appeared to form during the day in the operations area as part of the diurnal cloud burn off. The movement of the clear zones from day to day were hard to follow because of the large diurnal changes in cloud cover. Clear and broken cloud zones formed during the day only to distort in shape and fill during the following night. The field forecasters exhibited some skill in predicting when the clear and broken cloud patterns would form in the operations area. They based their predictions on the analysis and simulations of the models run by NOAA's Numeric Meteorological Center. How the atmospheric conditions analyzed by one NOAA/NMC model related to the cloud cover is discussed

Institutional and Post-Institutional Treatment of the Sex Offender

The problem of the sex offender is as old as society itself. Today, as in the distant past, man is more concerned, in the first instance, with protecting himself and his loved ones from the corrupting touch of the so-called sex-fiend than he is with the punishment, treatment or cure of such persons. This phenomenon of social psychology still prevails in spite of the growing preachments of the doctor, psychologist, criminologist and more recently, of the lawyer prosecutor, the lawyer law-maker and the lawyer practitioner,\u27 to the effect that the primarily desirable end of protecting society can best be achieved by a greater emphasis on penological, therapeutic and hygienic techniques applicable in the institutional and post-institutional treatment of such offenders. Much of what is herein proposed in the way of legislative and administrative improvement is generally applicable to the whole field of correction, but the special problem of the sex offender requires that it be underlined