RADIAL AND TANGENTIAL VARIATION OF DEUTERIUM IN HAILSTONES.

Abstract

It is concluded 1) that probably neither air bubble content nor crystal size is as good a relative height indicator as deuterium content; 2) that the trajectories of large hailstones can be very simple, not involving recirculations at larger-than-embryo sizes though two of the nine stones analyzed do show recirculation; 3) that the maximum altitude of growth of several of the large hailstones studied was at a temperature above minus 25C; 4) that wet-growth layers can show significant tangential variations in D-content; and 5) that studies of hailstone radial deuterium variations can yield valuable information when applied to many hailstones from single storms or when coupled with deuterium measurements on samples of liquid water or water vapor collected within the storms.