Southern Arizona Hang Glider AssociationThermal Visualization
Moderators:ioan, John Wolfe, aaroncromer, jlowery
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John Wolfe
- Posts:996
- Joined:Fri Aug 12, 2005 6:08 pm
- Location:Oro Valley (NW Tucson)
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aaroncromer
- Posts:98
- Joined:Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:52 pm
that's funny i just saw this video this am. someone on the RVHPA site posted it yesterday. here is also rick rays comments (pg pilot). i thought it was most informative...
Aaron
Good catch. The nice cumulus clouds in the sky are showing a nice lapse rate. The plastic has enhanced the localized ground heating that feeds the longevity of the release. The evnt starts with what looks like a "dustless devil". It then develops into what the literature calls a "stationary" thermal. This a continued thermal release in a localized area. The thermal kept getting fed as it pulled more and more of the plastic loose. The underlying heat kept the thing going. The literature talks about stationary thermals sometimes lasting 20-30 minutes at a specific location. I think that we occasionally run into these on good laspse rate days at Woodrat, sans plastic.
Rick
Aaron
Good catch. The nice cumulus clouds in the sky are showing a nice lapse rate. The plastic has enhanced the localized ground heating that feeds the longevity of the release. The evnt starts with what looks like a "dustless devil". It then develops into what the literature calls a "stationary" thermal. This a continued thermal release in a localized area. The thermal kept getting fed as it pulled more and more of the plastic loose. The underlying heat kept the thing going. The literature talks about stationary thermals sometimes lasting 20-30 minutes at a specific location. I think that we occasionally run into these on good laspse rate days at Woodrat, sans plastic.
Rick