Weather Modification - Cloud Seeding, Methods Of Cloud Seeding, Effectiveness Of Cloud Seeding, Fog And Cloud Dispersal - Wartime applications
suppression example
The term weather modification refers to any deliberate effort on the part of humans to influence weather patterns for some desirable purpose. Probably the most familiar example of weather modification is the seeding of clouds, most often done in order to increase the amount of precipitation during periods of drought.
The earliest scientific programs on weather modification date to the 1940s when Vincent J. Schaefer carried out experiments on cloud seeding. A half century later, the science of weather modification is still in its infancy with many questions surrounding the most effective way of bringing about the changes desired in any particular setting. The major types of weather modification that are currently in use or under study include cloud seeding, frost prevention, fog and cloud dispersal, hurricane modification, hail suppression, and lighting suppression.
Some defense experts have suggested the use of weather modification techniques as a military weapon. The claim has been made, for example, that the United States used cloud seeding during the Vietnam War. The hope was that increased rainfall would make the movement of personnel and material along the Ho Chi Minh trail more difficult.
Additional Topics
A cloud is a large mass of water droplets and ice crystals. Precipitation normally occurs in a cloud only when ice crystals grow large enough to fall to Earth as rain, snow, hail, or some other form of precipitation. When conditions do not favor the growth of ice crystals, moisture remains suspended in the clouds, and precipitation does not occur. The general goal of cloud seeding is to find some …
A number of large experiments have been conducted to determine the effectiveness of cloud seeding as a way of increasing precipitation. The Atmospheric Water Resources Program of the Bureau of Reclamation, for example, has supported about a dozen research projects on cloud seeding. In one of these projects, the Colorado River Basin Project, cloud seeding was thought to have produced an increase of…
The federal government has been interested to a greater or less extent in programs of hail and lighting suppression for more than two decades. Hail suppression is of interest because of the devastating effects that this form of precipitation can have on crops, while lighting suppression is of importance because of the many forest fires it causes. The principle underlying most hail suppression rese…
The use of weather modification techniques is often surrounded by controversy. An increase of precipitation over an area might be of benefit to some individuals in the area, but a disadvantage to others. For example, suppose that the owner of a private ski resort wants to have clouds seeded in order to increase snowfall over his or her property. If that effort is successful, the ski area benefits,…
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