CONVECTIVE STORMS AND SCAVENGING
529
Fig. 4—Sample collectors.
ing bricks. In the background of this photograph is part of the radar
facility of NSSL.
For the 1964 season, automatic rain-sample collectors were operated in the network of recording rain gauges. Figure 5 shows in detail
the ARS network and the locations of our collectors. The collectors
were located between 25 and 50 miles from the recording radars in an
area where radar resolution is best. On the average the collectors were
8 to 10 miles apart asa compromise between sampling several thunderstorms of the season and sampling an invididual thunderstorm by more
than one collector. Since the collectors make no record of time, each
collector was located adjacent to a recording rain gauge maintained by
either ARS or NSSL so that the time and duration of any rain sample
could be resolved by reference to the record of the rain gauge. Other
factors figuring in the location of the collectors are logistical. They
must be accessible by automobile after the rain for retrieval of the
samples, their sum distances from the laboratory should be minimized
for easier maintenance accessibility, and they must be protected as
much as possible from pranksters, vandals, and animals.
Radiochemical analyses of the rain samples were made by the Department of Sanitary Science and Public Health, University of Oklahoma,
under the direction of R. Y. Nelson. For the 1963 season the work in-