Using Drones for Cloud-Seeding Can Trigger Rain, Company Claims (deseret.com) 8
Monday a company called Rainmaker announced their rain-triggering technology had produced 143 million gallons of freshwater for Utah and Oregon residents — making them "the first private company in history to validate the results of cloud seeding operations."
The Deseret News reports: Founded in 2023, Rainmaker uses drones to disperse silver iodide into clouds, then they track precipitation with advanced radar. However, Rainmaker — and every other rain-enhancement company — has been up against the notoriously difficult challenge of validation. Since there is no control set to test, and because the weather is chaotic and variable, the Government Accountability Office declares the benefits of the technology to be "unproven." To overcome this evaluation challenge, Rainmaker flies drones in unique patterns when seeding. Then operators compare distinct radar and satellite features with where their drones operated.
As of April, Rainmaker found 82 unambiguous seeding signatures, which show their seeding operations directly caused precipitation. In Utah and Oregon alone, the company said its cloud-seeding efforts have added enough water to match the annual usage of about 1,750 households. However, "this figure likely represents only a small fraction of Rainmaker's total generation this season," the company said in their press release... Their drone precision, combined with their radar systems, have produced satellite images proving a direct correlation between the seeding and precipitation. Some images show cloud holes or regions of depressed cloud tops after seeding.
Rainmaker's announcement promises they'll "go forward and continue our mission to refill the Great Salt Lake, end drought in the American West and deliver water abundance wherever it is needed most around the world." (Rainmaker currently operates in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, California and Colorado.)
The director of Utah's Natural Resources Department told the Deseret News that with cloud seeding, "cost per unit of water is so low; it really is the smartest thing we can be doing with our money," Ferry said.
The Deseret News reports: Founded in 2023, Rainmaker uses drones to disperse silver iodide into clouds, then they track precipitation with advanced radar. However, Rainmaker — and every other rain-enhancement company — has been up against the notoriously difficult challenge of validation. Since there is no control set to test, and because the weather is chaotic and variable, the Government Accountability Office declares the benefits of the technology to be "unproven." To overcome this evaluation challenge, Rainmaker flies drones in unique patterns when seeding. Then operators compare distinct radar and satellite features with where their drones operated.
As of April, Rainmaker found 82 unambiguous seeding signatures, which show their seeding operations directly caused precipitation. In Utah and Oregon alone, the company said its cloud-seeding efforts have added enough water to match the annual usage of about 1,750 households. However, "this figure likely represents only a small fraction of Rainmaker's total generation this season," the company said in their press release... Their drone precision, combined with their radar systems, have produced satellite images proving a direct correlation between the seeding and precipitation. Some images show cloud holes or regions of depressed cloud tops after seeding.
Rainmaker's announcement promises they'll "go forward and continue our mission to refill the Great Salt Lake, end drought in the American West and deliver water abundance wherever it is needed most around the world." (Rainmaker currently operates in Utah, Idaho, Oregon, California and Colorado.)
The director of Utah's Natural Resources Department told the Deseret News that with cloud seeding, "cost per unit of water is so low; it really is the smartest thing we can be doing with our money," Ferry said.
What can go wrong? (Score:3)
Re:What can go wrong? (Score:4, Informative)
I'm sure there are no side effects of "dispersing silver iodide into clouds."
There really aren't. We've been doing this since the 50s. Every year some 11 tonnes of silver iodide is used for cloud seeding and has been for a long time. Incidentally this is less than 1% of emissions of this substance from industry. The impact of silver iodide (which is toxic) for cloudseeding (which is very low concentration) has been studied extensively since the 60s.
Here's from a metastudy:
The potential environmental impacts of cloud seeding programs using silver iodide have
been studied since the 1960s. These studies have all concluded that ice-nucleating agents,
specifically silver iodide as used in cloud seeding, represent a negligible environmental hazard,
(i.e., findings of no significant effects on plants and animals), (e.g., Cooper & Jolly 1970; Howell
1977; Klein 1978; Dennis 1980; Harris 1981; Todd & Howell 1985; Berg 1988; Reinking et al.
1995; Eliopoulos & Mourelatos 1998; Ouzounidou & Constantinidou 1999; Di Toro et al. 2001;
Bianchini et al. 2002; Tsiouris et al. 2002a; Tsiouris et al. 2002b; Christodoulou et al. 2004;
Edwards et al. 2005; Keyes et al. 2006; Williams & Denholm 2009).
Re: (Score:1)
Besides the trouble that environmentalists have with getting their panties unbunched, not really.
Drones Are Irrelevant. This Is Advertisement. (Score:2)
We have long had the technology and ability to do cloud seeding. Yet the technique is rarely practiced. Why, because it is typically not enough and does not work where we would like or need.
The use of drones does not solve any problem regarding cloud seeding. We've been able to seed clouds from just after World War 2. Drones offer nothing that a Cessna or crop duster couldn't do better.
Re: (Score:2)
They offer more affordable lifting capacity than a gas-powered aircraft rated for human passengers that also has to haul the weight of a paid pilot to the same altitude.
No (Score:2)
Water thieves (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Plausible deniability?