Aucusrr 1961 ESTIMATION OF VERTICAL AIR MOTIONS IN DESERT TERRAIN FROM TETROON FLIGHTS

Low-level, constant volnme balloon (tetroon) flights made from Yucca Flat i n the Nevada Proving Grounds of the Atomic Energy Cornrnission are utilized t o yield a 1 1 estimate of the nature and magnitude of vertical air motions in desert areas. It is found that during the day thc tetroons osci1l;ttc. as nluch as 10,000 feet in the vertical with vertical velocities often exceeding 5 kt., whrrcas during thc night the vertical oscillatiom are on the order of 100 feet and vertical velocities seldom excecd 0.5 kt. There ar(' indications that during the day, at this particular site, helical circulation patterns exist with axes parallel to thc 1lort11-south orientrd valley floor and with alternating circulation sense across the valley, while during the night tho snlall vcrtical oscillatiorls are rrlorf' nearly tied to the local topography. Pure mountain influences on the tetroon t,rnjectoricxs could not he clearly delineated owing to the tremendous vertical oscillations associated with solar heating.