mcjohn
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2005
- Posts
- 1,456
Very interesting. Anyone care to explain how this is supposed to work. Sounds like a fun job:
CAN WEATHER BE MODIFIED? SCIENTISTS AIM TO FIND OUT
The first phase of a five-year $8.8 million project to determine whether cloud seeding actually works to increase precipitation has begun over the mountains in Wyoming. Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have devised an experiment to evaluate the technique. NCAR and its project partners—the University of Wyoming, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the Desert Research Institute, and the U.S. Forest Service—are deploying both airborne and ground-based instruments to measure snowfall over the Medicine Bow, Sierra Madre, and Wind River mountains. Starting next winter, once the permits are approved, Weather Modification Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota, will seed the clouds with silver iodide particles using its Piper Cheyenne II along with ground-based generators. The Wyoming Water Development Commission is providing funding for the state that has been in drought for years. "People are sometimes concerned about changing what they think is natural weather, but studies have shown that in some areas we're already affecting clouds unintentionally through increases in airborne particulates and other pollution," said NCAR project scientist Dan Breed. "If cloud seeding is shown to work, it may help counteract the effects of air pollution as well as ease those of natural drought cycles."
CAN WEATHER BE MODIFIED? SCIENTISTS AIM TO FIND OUT
The first phase of a five-year $8.8 million project to determine whether cloud seeding actually works to increase precipitation has begun over the mountains in Wyoming. Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have devised an experiment to evaluate the technique. NCAR and its project partners—the University of Wyoming, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, the Desert Research Institute, and the U.S. Forest Service—are deploying both airborne and ground-based instruments to measure snowfall over the Medicine Bow, Sierra Madre, and Wind River mountains. Starting next winter, once the permits are approved, Weather Modification Inc. of Fargo, North Dakota, will seed the clouds with silver iodide particles using its Piper Cheyenne II along with ground-based generators. The Wyoming Water Development Commission is providing funding for the state that has been in drought for years. "People are sometimes concerned about changing what they think is natural weather, but studies have shown that in some areas we're already affecting clouds unintentionally through increases in airborne particulates and other pollution," said NCAR project scientist Dan Breed. "If cloud seeding is shown to work, it may help counteract the effects of air pollution as well as ease those of natural drought cycles."
