Dr. Frank Record, MIT mainstay who also spent the summer of 1953 here, checks the meter,
which recorded the colorless tracer emitted from an isolated pipe. Tank (left foreground) is a
mixer.—The Frontier Photo.
Diffusion Days Are Over
(Continued from page 1)
scientists for their specific prob
lem or problems, spells to us a
city of temporary huts, a carload
at test tubes, delicate anemome
ters, wind vanes, electronic brains,
computers, wind towers and
acres of erect steel fence posts
forming successive semicircular
patterns in a big, empty pasture.
Operation Diffusion might have
been a more appropriate title, be
cause other activities at the J. B.
Ryan pasture went along for the
ride. Or, better yet, Operation
Confusion as the office wag tells
it, because the layman doesn’t
have a chance on these acres of
pasture where there isn’t even a
tree.
Herr we are, six miles north
east of O’Neill, a “run” about to
get underway. Night or day
makes not much difference to
the scientists.
Ft’s 2 p.m., and the wind is in
a southerly direction
Picture an isolated 3-inch pipe
about two feet high protruding
from the sod. It’s from that pipe
the tracer (gas) is to be emitted.
Fifty feet south is a giant meter,
a mixing tank and a bottled gas
supply
Fifty meters north is a semi
cicrle (with the arc to the north)
of steel fence posts with delicate
lest tubes mounted on each post.
One hundred meters away, an
other; 400 meters, another; 800
meters, still another.
The samplers are exactly
spaced 2 degrees apart (6 feet at
the 50-meter arc; 46 feet apart
at the 100-meter range). On the
800-meter semicircle, the tubes
are 1 degree (or 46-feet) apart.
Five hundred fifty test tubes
art' perched atop these posts - -
and surface hose connects to
provide a partial vacuum in the,
I UUl.il.
Precision and exactness per
vade tiie whole effort.
The pipe sticking in the ground
begins to emit the colorless tracer;
the busy litle test tubes go to
work. Wind must be generallv
from the south in order for the
tracer to penetrate northward
into the network.
At 2:30 p.m., the squad of
runners with test tube baskets
hustle the containers into the
temporary air-conditioned labor
atory. Acid in the bottles is
measured in terms of ohms (elec
trical resistance). Each reading is
recorded.
With the wind right, the pro
cedure will be resumed again at
4 p.m.—with thoroughly rinsed
bottles. If everything functions
smoothly, there may be up to 10
minutes to spare between “runs.”
Sometimes the MIT workers
have been obliged to wait days
for favorable weather.
These tracer experiments were
done in miniature back at Round
Hill, near Boston, Mass., but the
entire project was magnified and
expanded for Prairiegrass.
Meanwhile, the air force j
weather detachment is sending ■
balloons aloft. These expend
able. robot, free balloons are
radioing back weather infor
mation at regular intervals.
The mobile detachment is from
the Sixth weather squadron,
Tinker field, Oklahoma City,
Okla.
A small L-20 aircraft, laden with
weather graph instruments, bus
ily plies the sky, making low
level temperature and wind ve-1
■£!
locity readings. And, simultane
ously. at very nearly surface lev
el, the anemometers and wind
vanes feed tiny impulses into
electronic brains, recording mi
nute changes in wind speed, di
rection, velocity and other ne
cessary data.
The pilots are Lts. George Sex
ton, a South Dakotan, and A1
Clark.
Dr. Morton Barad, director of
the project and a civil service
employee in air force research,
tells us not to fret over the vo
luminous data being gathered at
every nook-and-eranny of the
big pasture where normally con
tented cattle graze.
“In a year or two we’ll have
it all correlated and reduced to
where we can work with it.
“This is basic resarch,” the
sandy, bespectacled family man
explained. “Any portion of what
we’re doing, without the support
ing data from the rest of the
project, wouldn’t mean much.’’
Doctor Barad learned back in
1953 that one day, several years
hence, he would be taking a
crew to O’Neill (or to sonte sim
ilar place) and work toward the
solution of certain problems. Even
when the 1953 wind test group
was returning to Cambridge, pa
per work was being advanced for
Project Prairiegrass.
Scientists, like everyone else,
have budget troubles. Their pri
orities are fixed. Assembling
costly equipment and getting per
sonnel for the particular work is
not easily accomplished two or1
three years in advance.
Time passed.
The '53 wind test—a minute
study of wind turbulence at low
level—became a voluminous me
teorological book (a world stand
ard) and even a documentary
film was developed by the air
force. But these came only after
weeks and months of analysis
and study.
About a year ago the Prai- j
rie Grass appeared to be a cer
tainty. The project (smaller
in scope than the ’53 test) was
fairly well defined and only
the domestic problems remain
ed.
O’Neill hospitality of ’53 and
intimacy with the terrain and
"housekeeping” services here al
layed any doubts but what the
project could proceed on schedule
at O’Neill.
During early 1956 Doctor Barad
and Dr. Harrison Cramer of MIT
came out to make preliminary
arrangements. The people moved
in en masse in May and now, ear
ly September, Project Prairie
grass is tucked away on rolls and
rolls of graphs, stacks of magnet
ic tape, thousands of feet of film,
and mountains of charts.
More now about the goings-on
at hand.
There are eight huts, a half
dozen vans and a small fleet of
utility GI vehicles including (you
guessed it)—jeeps.
Let’s look in on these other
trailer outfits.
The Wisconsin group, under
Dr. Vern Suomi, primarily is con
cerned with the heat budget and
such problems as how much en
ergy is reflected from a sandhill"
How much from a cornfield? How
much from a piece of prairie
pasture? In some instances they
send an aircraft aloft as far
away as Iowa to gather compara
tive data.
Wisconsin also wants to study
a theory of “hot spots”—areas in
j the atmosphere where tomadic
I storms are born. Who knows?
This may lead to a highly suc
cessful tornado warning network
in our great land and save untold
lives and help reduce property
loss.
Generally, Wisconsin’s re
search, like during the wind test
here in 1953, has agricultural and
domestic application.
Texas A&M likewise is con
cerned with problems having
agrarian features. The Texans are
rigged to study the amount of
moisture evaporation coming out
of the earth—in this instance, the
prairie.
Roth the Wisconsin and Tex
as A&M studies supplement
MIT’S meteorological activity.
Wisconsin’s Suomi headed the
Badger group’s studies here in
1953. Texas A&M’s work is head
ed by Dr. Maurice Halstead, who
headed the Johns Hopkins uni
versity project here in 1933,
later transferred to College Sta
tion with specific problems in!
mind for O’Neill, 1956.
Harry Moses of the Argonne
National laboratories, Chicago, |
111., is an official observer}
here; also Doctor Lettau, who is:
remembered by Frontier readers
as the chief metorological officer
for the German high command
during World War II and ranks
today as one of the world’s lead
ing weather experts.
Focal point before the start of
a test is the downtown headquar
ters—located in a comfortable,
improvised office at the Ryar
haybarn premises. There a tele
type machine keeps the project in
touch with the weather bureau,
getting regular reports as well as }
facsimile charts from Washing- j
ton, D.C.
Pete Giorgio has been the chief ,
forecaster at the downtown nerve j
center most of the summer. Pat
Harney, another repeater from
'53, has been the air force instru •
ment man. Pat formerly was in
the office of the U.S. weather
bureau in Washington.
"The summer has been un
like the summer of 1953." la
mented Doctor Barad. “Three
years ago the wind would shift
to the south and hang there
day-after-day.
“This summer we’d get an in
dication on the charts the wind
was shaping up for us. We work
ourselves up to a fine, sharp
point, ready for action. Often as
not action never came.
“But the weather has been un
predictable everywhere this year
in the upper half of the United
States.' We’ve gotten in our licks
and are pleased with what we
have — even before the analyses
have begun.
“Distinguished observers have
told us—and written us—we are
doing basic research that should
have been done long ago."
About the future?
Doctor Barad hopes he can
present to higher echelons a case
for perpetuating the O’Neill test
site, just as his predecessors —
Ben Davidson and Heinz Lettau,
’53 directors, had done.
In any event, O’Neill will long
live in the annals of meteorology
based on what was done in 1953
and what is being finished today.
And, within a week or two,
placid cattle again will be graz
ing where electronics brains were
beating themselves out all sum
mer.
I
Mending an anemometer tower: Ronnie Mot phy and James Tomlinson, both of O'Neill, and
John Luby, Jr., of New Bedford. Blass. Young Lu by accompanied his father to O’Neill for the sum
mer; Morphy »"H Tomlinson were among 3d high school boys used as runners and for odd Jobs on
Project Pralriegrasa.—The Frontier Photo.
Neligh Park Scene
of Birthday Dinner
EWING—A family party was
held Sunday at Riverside park In
Neligh honoring the birthday an
niversaries of Mrs. Hannah Tut
•le and her son, Vearl Tuttle. A
| picnic dinner was enjoyed follow-]
ud by ah formal afternoon.
In attendance were the honor- j
I ed guests, Mrs. Vearl Tuttle and
family, Mr. and Mrs. Archie Tut
tle and daughter, Mr. and Mrs.
Roy Tuttle and family, all of E\v-1
:ng; Mrs Grace Schmit of Cal
ifornia: Mr. and Mrs. Glen Tuttie
ifornia, Mr. and Mrs. Glen Tuttle
! of Cherokee, la., and Mr. and
Mrs L. H. Weis of Meridan, la.
Other Ewing News
%tr. and Mrs. Hans Peterson
ind family went to Neligh Satur
| day afternoon to join other rela
| tives and friends in celebrating
the 80th birthday anniversary of
his mother, Mrs. Carsten Peter
son.
Weekend guests at the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Elmert Berg
strom were his brother and sis
ter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence
Bergstrom of Omaha.
Mrs. John Walker and son, i
Bobbie, of Norfolk visited rela
tives and friends in Ewing last
week.
Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Dierks went
to Omaha Monday to take their
daughter, Miss Sandra, there. She
began employment there Tues-1
day.
Miss Mary Alys Dierks carne
home Friday from Omaha to
spend the weekend with her par
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Dieiks.
She had been a guest of her cou
sin, Miss Judy Jefferies of Om
aha, for a few days during her
vacation.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Spittler and
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Regan pic
nicked last Thursday evening at
the farm home of Mr. and Mrs.
George Jefferies.
Mrs. Loyd West has returned j
home after spending some time!
with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. j
G u s Perlensein, at Bonesteel,!
S.D.
John Black, USN, who has
spent a 30,-day leave with his
parents, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd
Black, and family and other rela
tives, left Saturday to return to
his base at Seattle, Wash.
Mr. and Mrs. James Tinsley
and children returned home
from a 10-day vacation. They
spent last week at Merriman and
Gordon. They also went through
Yellowstone park and the Teton
national park. At McCall, Ida.,
they were guests at the home of
his two brothers.
Mr. and Mrs. Aaron Hadfield
of Fullerton were recent guests
at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Eb
ben Grafft Mr. Hadfield is a
brother of Mrs. Grafft and Mrs.
Hadfield is a sister of Mr. Grafft.
•
James Peers of the MIT staff takes readings on automatic
computers (known as electronic brains). The machines inside a
van recorded wind velocity, wind direction and temperatures. The
van. laden with costly electronic equipment, has a safe speed of 1.V
mph and was shipped to O’Neill In a rail box car.—The Frontier
Photo.
CHURCH NOTES
METHODIST (Page-Inman;
Rev. Lisle E. Mewmaw, pastor
PAGE— '
Thursday, September 6: WSCS
meeting, 2:30 p.m.; junior choir
practice, 4 p.m.; choir practice,
8 p.m.
Sunday, September 9: Sunday
school, 10 a.m.; worship, 11 a.m.;
MYF, 8 p.m., with Miss Dorine
Gleed of Chambers showing pic
tures of the mission tour.
Monday, September 10: First
quarterly conference, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, September 12:
WSCS prayer hour, 9 a.m., Scrip
ture lesson, Luke 12:31-41; young
adult fellowship meeting, 8 p.rr.
INMAN—
Sunday, September 9: Sunday
school, 8:45 a.m.; worship, 9:45
am.
Tuesday, September 11: Fir: t
quarterly conference, 8 p.m.
Wednesday, September 12:
Choir practice and MYF, 8 p.m.
Thursday, September 13:
WSCS meeting, 2:30 p.m.; official
board meeting, 8 p.m.
ASSEMBLY OF GOO (O’Neill)
(O’Neill)
Rev. E. Kirschman, oastor
. 6
HOMOGENIZES vital tex
Hit oils back Into your clothes. The
finest drycleaning care money can
buy—• end STA*NU costs not one
penny extra.
Sunday. September 9. Sunday
school for all ages, 10 an, wor
ship service, 11 am.; Christ's
Ambassadors (youth), 7 pan,
children’s service, 7 p.m.; evan
gelistic rally, 8 p.m.
Midweek service Wednesdays,
8 p.m.
IMMANUEL LUTHERAN
(Atkinson)
Rev. E. G. Smith, pastor
Sunday, September 9: Divine
service, 9 am.; Sunday-school,
10:15 a.m.; Lutheran hour. 4 p.m.
W.h\G (780 kc.)
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