| OCR Text |
Show 42 that a decrease in the moisture lost from the Lake could result in a marked decrease in the accumulated precipitation in the Wasatch Mountains east of the Lake. Such a decrease in precipitation could result from a decrease in the available precipitable water in the air mass moving across the Wasatch Mountains, from a decrease in the amount of inadvertant cloud seeding caused by a decrease in the number of salt nuclei from the Lake, or a combination of both. Evidence supporting this theory is substantial because isohyetal maps indicate that there is generally more precipitation in the Wasatch Mountains directly east of the Lake than in the same mountain range north and south of the Lake influence. Rates of evaporation losses are important factors in the success of industries harvesting minerals from the Lake. The Utah Geological Survey is obtaining pan evaporation measurements from several sites around the Lake which, combined with other information available from the National Weather Service and industrial plants, should make possible the development of a rough model to determine the range of potential evaporation under various extremes of Lake levels and climatic regimes. This data should also help in a preliminary testing of the importance of evaporation in the total hydrologic cycle of the Great Salt Lake Basin. Micro- Climate Although little is known about the micro- climate of the Lake, factors which are considered to be of great importance are: 1. Evaporation rates of the Lake 2. The temperature of the Lake surface water 3. Surface air temperature and thermal stability in the boundary layer of the atmosphere. Air- Lake interaction depends greatly on air- Lake temperature differences and the vertical transport of water vapor and heat dispersal on the thermal stability |
