Airborne Measurements of the Impact of Ground-based Glaciogenic Cloud Seeding on Orographic Precipitation

Data from in situ probes and a vertically-pointing ram-wave Doppler radar aboard a research aircraft are used to study the cloud microphysical effect of glaciogenic seeding of cold-season orographic clouds. A previous study （Geerts et al., 2010） has shown that radar reflectivity tends to be higher during seeding periods in a shallow layer above the ground downwind of ground-based silver iodide （AgI） nuclei generators. This finding is based on seven flights, conducted over a mountain in Wyoming （the Unites States）, each with a no-seeding period followed by a seeding period. In order to assess this impact, geographically fixed flight tracks were flown over a target mountain, both upwind and downwind of the AgI generators. This paper examines data from the same flights for further evidence of the cloud seeding impact. Com- posite radar data show that the low-level reflectivity increase is best defined upwind of the mountain crest and downwind of the point where the cloud base intersects the terrain. The main argument that this increase can be attributed to AgI seeding is that it is confined to a shallow layer near the ground where the flow is turbulent. Yet during two flights when clouds were cumuliform and coherent updrafts to flight level were recorded by the radar, the seeding impact was evident in the flight-level updrafts （about 610 m above the mountain peak） as a significant increase in the ice crystal appears short-lived as it is not apparent just downwind of concentration in all size bins. The seeding effect the crest.

Macro-and Micro-physical Characteristics of Different Parts of Mixed Convective-stratiform Clouds and Differences in Their Responses to Seeding

This study investigates the cloud macro-and micro-physical characteristics in the convective and stratiform regions and their different responses to the seeding for mixed convective-stratiform clouds that occurred in Shandong province on 21 May 2018,based on the observations from the aircraft,the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership(NPP)satellite,and the high-resolution Himawari-8(H8)satellite.The aircraft observations show that convection was deeper and radar echoes were significantly enhanced with higher tops in response to seeding in the convective region.This is linked with the conversion of supercooled liquid droplets to ice crystals with released latent heat,resulting in strengthened updrafts,enhanced radar echoes,higher cloud tops,and more and larger precipitation particles.In contrast,in the stratiform cloud region,after the Silver Iodide(AgI)seeding,the radar echoes become significantly weaker at heights close to the seeding layer,with the echo tops lowered by 1.4–1.7 km.In addition,a hollow structure appears at the height of 6.2–7.8 km with a depth of about 1.6 km and a diameter of about 5.5 km,and features such as icing seeding tracks appear.These suggest that the transformation between droplets and ice particles was accelerated by the seeding in the stratiform part.The NPP and H8 satellites also show that convective activity was stronger in the convective region after seeding;while in the stratiform region,a cloud seeding track with a width of 1–3 km appears 10 km downstream of the seeding layer 15 minutes after the AgI seeding,which moves along the wind direction as width increases.

Evaluation of cloud seeding project in Yazd Province of Iran using historical regression method(case study:Yazd 1 cloud seeding project,1999)

In this research, the result of the cloud seeding over Yazd province during three months of February, March and April in 1999 has been evaluated using the historical regression method. Hereupon, the rain-gages in Yazd province as the target stations and the rain-gages of the neighboring provinces as the control stations have been selected. The rainfall averages for the three aforementioned months through 25 years (1973-1997) in all control and target stations have been calculated. In the next step, the correlations between the rainfalls of control and target stations have been estimated about 75%, which indicates a good consistency in order to use the historical regression. Then, through the obtained liner correlation equation between the control and target stations the precipitation amount for February, March and April in 1999, over the target region (Yazd province) was estimated about 27.57 mm, whiles the observed amount was 34.23 mm. In fact the precipitation increasing around 19.5% over Yazd province confirmed the success of this cloud seeding project.

Cloud seeding

Cloud seeding is a method of artificially causing clouds to produce precipitation (降水) in the form of rain or snow.Cloud seeding has also been used in attempts to modify the severity of hail slorms and hurricanes.The effectiveness of cloud seeding remains controversial,but it continues to be used in some regions to try lo

United States Secret War in Laos: Long-Term Environmental and Human Health Impacts of the Use of Chemical Weapons

In 1959, the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operation, against the Pathet Lao insurgences and Viet Mien military troops and supply route, began. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was developed after the North Vietnam government and military decided to reunify South and North Vietnam. The People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) then connected the old trails leading from North Vietnam panhandle southward into eastern Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam. Starting from Hanoi, the primary trail turned southwest into Laos and eastern Cambodia before branching into South Vietnam. Beginning in 1960s, the volume of traffic on the network of trails expanded significantly, but it still took more than a month’s march, by foot and bicycle, to travel from North to South Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh Trail traffic was impacted by repeatedly by Royal Laotian Air Force (RLAF), which was supported by US Air Force tactical herbicide spraying (Operation Ranch Hand program), and US Air Force bombing runs. By the late 1960s, the trail was improved and could accommodate heavy trucks in some sections and was used to supply the annual needs of over one hundred thousand regular PAVN troops active in South Vietnam. By 1974, the trail was a well-marked series of jungle roads (some of them paved) with underground support facilities such as hospitals, fuel-storage tanks, and supply caches with weapons. The Ho Chi Minh Trail was the major supply route for PAVN forces that overran Republic of Vietnam (RV) forces in 1975 and unified Vietnam. The primary objective of this paper is to determine the environmental and human health impacts of RLAF and US Air Force secret spraying of tactical herbicides on Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.

An Example of Canal Formation in a Thick Cloud Induced by Massive Seeding Using Liquid Carbon Dioxide

The purpose of this experiment is to show that massive cloud seeding is effective in mitigating the damage caused by heavy snowfall. In order to show its effect, we attempted to form a canal in a thick convective cloud by massive seeding, and left the parts that were not influenced by the seeding as a reference to show that the canal was formed by the massive seeding only. The seeding was carried out by using an aircraft. The seeding rate and air speed of the aircraft were 35 g s-1 and 115 m s 1, respectively. The flight course for seeding was selected to be parallel to the wind direction to ensure that the dispersed liquid carbon dioxide did not influence both sides of the course. The results show that a part of the radar echo observed from onboard beneath the seeding track was weakened and divided the radar echo into two parts 20 minutes after the cloud top and the bottom were seeded, and distribution of rainfall rate on the ground from the target cloud was confirmed to be divided into two parts 24 minutes after the seeding. The target cloud was torn along the seeding track, and we could see the sea surface through the break in the cloud. Canal formation occurred in the cloud along the seeding track. Clouds and snowfall were left on both sides of the canal. The results show that supercooled liquid cloud particles along the seeding track evaporated to form larger precipitable particles which grew and fell rapidly.

Microphysical Effects of Cloud Seeding in Supercooled Stratiform Clouds Observed from NOAA Satellite

Based on the satellite retrieval methodology, the spectral characteristics and cloud microphysical properties were analyzed that included brightness temperatures of Channels 4 and 5, and their brightness temperature difference （BTD）, the particle effective radius of seeded cloud track caused by an operational cloud seeding and the microphysical effects of cloud seeding were revealed by the comparisons of their differences inside and outside the seeded track. The cloud track was actually a cloud channel reaching 1.5-km deep and 14-km wide lasting for more than 80 min. The effective radius of ambient clouds was 10-15 μm, while that within the cloud track ranged from 15 to 26 μm. The ambient clouds were composed of supercooled droplets, and the composition of the cloud within the seeding track was ice. With respect to the rather stable reflectance of two ambient sides around the track, the visible spectral reflectance in the cloud track varied at least 10%, and reached a maximum of 35%, the reflectance of 3.7 μm in the seeded track relatively decreased at least 10%. As cloud seeding advanced, the width and depth were gradually increased. Simultaneously the cloud top temperature within the track became progressively warmer with respect to the ambient clouds, and the maximum temperature differences reached 4.2 and 3.9℃ at the first seeding position for Channels 4 and 5. In addition, the BTD in the track also increased steadily to a maximum of 1.4℃, compared with 0.2-0.4℃ of the ambient clouds. The evidence that the seeded cloud became thinner comes from the visible image showing a channel, the warming of the cloud tops, and the increase of BTD in the seeded track. The seeded cloud became thinner mainly because the cloud top descended and it lost water to precipitation throughout its depth. For this cloud seeding case, the glaciation became apparent at cloud tops about 22 min after seeding. The formation of a cloud track in the supercooled stratiform clouds was mainly because that the seeded cloud volume glaciated into ice hydrometeors that precipitated and so lowered cloud top height. A thin line of new water clouds formed in the middle of the seeded track between 38 and 63 min after seeding, probably as a result of rising motion induced by the released latent heat of freezing. These clouds disappeared in the earlier segments of the seeded track, which suggested that the maturation of the seeding track was associated with its narrowing and eventual dissipation due to expansion of the tops of the ambient clouds from the sides inward.

Model Analysis of Radar Echo Split Observed in an Artificial Cloud Seeding Experiment

An artificial cloud seeding experiment was performed over the Japan Sea in winter to show how massive seeding could be effective to mitigate heavy snowfall damage.The results showed that 20 min after cloud seeding,a portion of the radar echo beneath the seeding track was weakened to divide the radar echo into two parts.In order to analyze the results,a numerical simulation was conducted by using the Weather Research and Forecasting model verion 3.5.1.In this simulation,the seeding effects were represented as phenomena capable of changing rain particles by accreting cloud ice and snow to form graupel particles and by changing cloud liquid water to snow particles.The graupel particles fell rapidly,thus temporarily intensifying the rainfall,which subsequently decreased.Therefore,the weakened radar echo in the field experiment is deemed to have been caused by the increase in rapidly falling graupel particles.

Microphysical Responses to Catalysis During a Stratocumulus Aircraft Seeding Experiment over the Sanjiangyuan Region of China

This study explores the microphysical responses to a cloud seeding operation in the Sanjiangyuan region, China. The cloud seeding was performed using a zigzag flight pattern, while the detection phase was accomplished using a back-and-forth flight pattern through the top of a stratocumulus layer. Global Position System（GPS） and Particle Measuring System（PMS） data obtained during the operation are used to determine the efective cloud area before and after the operation, diferentiate the phase states of cloud particles, and analyze changes in the concentrations of liquid cloud particles and ice crystals, the evolution of the cloud particle spectrum, and the content of supercooled water. The median diameter of liquid cloud particles in the area of the cloud-seeding operation was 3.5–18.5 μm, most cloud particles observed in the 21.5–45.5-μm size regime were ice crystals, while all particles of size 50 μm and above were in the ice phase. Changes in the concentration and typical diameter of cloud particles within 36 km downwind of the cloudseeding operation did not exceed natural fluctuations in the cloud area before the operation; however, the concentration of liquid cloud particles decreased substantially in areas with high concentrations of supercooled water（concentrations of supercooled water exceeding 0.01 g m 3）. The concentration of ice crystals within the measuring range of the Forward Scattering Spectrometer Probe（FSSP） increased substantially, the water content of ice-phase particles increased, and the average supercooled water content in the cloud decreased from（68.3± 23.1）% before the operation to（34.2± 12.4）%. The efects of cloud seeding were more pronounced in parts of the cloud where the content of supercooled water was higher. Little to no efects were observed in parts of the cloud with low concentrations of supercooled water.