29mar2012 smoke

Smoke plume east of the CHILL due to agricultural burning on 29 march 2012. Based on the hand-held laser device, the azimuth to the plume was ~083 degrees. (Camera logged the image time as 2039:27 UTC).

Dual frequency RHI scans were done through the smoke area between 2046 and 2102 UTC. The apparent plume-related echo was best defined in the S-band data at ~2057 UTC.

S-band reflectivity (no thresholding):

X-Band reflectivity (no thresholding)

Despite the higher sensitivity of the X-band channel, no detectable echo appears at the shorter wavelength. According to Knight and Miller (BAMS Feb, 1992), the X-Band reflectivity should be ~19 dB below the S-Band reflectivity under Bragg scattering conditions.

The following two images show the elevated residue of the original smoke plume at 2051 UTC: