05-10-2016, 08:34 PM
Thanks for that, AK, it certainly answered my question!
The virga above MK the other day was likely caused by convection, similar to what you describe, but on odd occasions it can come from mid-level clouds when there is no convection. It's rare but has caught us flat-footed once or twice. Humidity is low, the sky has loads of cloud but we're open waiting for gaps. Suddenly there's a call from someone at the summit that it's snowing.
We're not so interested in icing (I know that's a big deal for you) but getting moisture on extremely sensitive electronics, or on the mirror itself. Frosted primary mirrors don't work well.
Given most of the observatories are switching to remote operations, summit conditions described by a human are less common, so there are some automatic systems up there to detect rain, snow and ice, but this project is still in its infancy.
The virga above MK the other day was likely caused by convection, similar to what you describe, but on odd occasions it can come from mid-level clouds when there is no convection. It's rare but has caught us flat-footed once or twice. Humidity is low, the sky has loads of cloud but we're open waiting for gaps. Suddenly there's a call from someone at the summit that it's snowing.
We're not so interested in icing (I know that's a big deal for you) but getting moisture on extremely sensitive electronics, or on the mirror itself. Frosted primary mirrors don't work well.
Given most of the observatories are switching to remote operations, summit conditions described by a human are less common, so there are some automatic systems up there to detect rain, snow and ice, but this project is still in its infancy.