WARM FOGS

FORMING ABOVE 32F, WARM FOGS MAKE UP 95% OF THE FOGS THAT CLOSE AIRPORTS AND HIGHWAYS. WARM FOGS COME INTO EXISTENCE WHENEVER THE TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR IS COLDER THAT ITS DEW POINT. SOME OF THE MOISTURE IN THE AIR CONDENSES ON TINY PARTICLES IN THE ATMOSPHERE TO FORM FOG DROPLETS. THE NUMBER AND SIZE OF THE DROPLETS DETERMINES HOW MUCH INTERFERENCE THERE WILL BE WITH VISIBILITY. A TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED BY RESEARCHERS AT CORNELL AERONAUTICAL LABORATORY TAKES ADVANTAGE OF THIS FACT, BY SEEDING THE FOG WITH A MATERIAL WHICH CAUSES A FEW OF THE DROPLETS TO GROW IN SIZE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE OTHERS. SODIUM CHLORIDE WAS CHOSEN FOR THE INITIAL EXPERIMENTS BECAUSE IT IS HYGROSCOPIC, INEXPENSIVE, EASY TO MILL TO PROPER SIZE, AND EASY TO HANDLE. THIS PAPER DISCUSSES THE SEEDING MATERIAL, ITS ADVANTAGES, AND DISADVANTAGES, THE FIELD AND LABORATORY TESTS CONDUCTED, AND OTHER ASPECTS OF THE FOG DISPERSAL TECHNIQUE. FIELD TESTS HAVE SHOWN THAT WARM FOGS CAN BE DISPERSED BY SALT PARTICLES 1/100TH THE SIZE OF TABLE SALT.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Vol 17, pp 20-24
• Publication Date: 1969

Media Info

• Serial:
  • Research Trends Cornell Aero Laboratory

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Field tests; Fog dispersal; Planting; Sodium chloride
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Highways; Materials; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00216844
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 12 1970 12:00AM