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<br />\\~~ <br />, <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />Cloud seeding used in conjunction with other sources may well prove <br />to be a highly effective appr08ch to improving the total water <br />supply. The data obtained from such studies as these, when combined <br />with economic, biological, social, and legal considerations, will <br />indicate the relative contribution of cloud seeding in the solution <br />to our Dation's future water shortages. <br /> <br />New instruments and equipment will be required before complete under- <br />standing of precipitation processes is achieved. Junong our long- <br />range resesrch goals is the development of such instrumentation. <br />For example, an instrument which could detect from the ground the <br />number of ice nuclei present in a cloud mass, and do this several <br />times an hour without disturbing the cloud itself, would be very <br />valuable in selecting clouds for seeding. <br /> <br />In general, the research goals can be summed up as attempts to <br />optimize the components of the atmospheric water resources system <br />described in Part II of this paper. We hope eventually to be able <br />to specify the contribution cloud seeding can make to a given <br />area's water problem. We expect to be able to say with assurance, <br />based upon knowledge of the physical principles involved, which <br />clouds can be successfully seeded for "the particular purpose intended. <br />\He fully expect to be able to erpecify ...here to seed, 'fIhen to seed, <br />and with what to seed to achieve the maximum increase and at the <br />same time guard against the danger of undesirable consequences of <br />too large an increase in precipitation. In order to attain this <br />level of ssfety, concurrent seeding and evaluation techniques must <br />be available. Rudimentary techniques are already available an~ we <br />expect sophisticated procedures to appear in the not-toe-distant <br />future. <br /> <br />An important byproduct, if not a goal itself, of our research pro- <br />gram is the development of a "handbook for operations." It will <br />be a distillation of the research results, and will provide for <br />straight-forward application of these results. <br /> <br />The end product of our research is an operational system. However, <br />it is wllikely that research will ever cease, because man always <br />strives to improve. The knowledge we acquire may well lead us to <br />new techniques and theories for modifying the weather more effective <br />than introducing seeding material in clouds. We will pursue the <br />most fruitful course, whatever it may be. At every stage of develop- <br />ment we can have an operational unit. More research will lead to <br />new generations of operations. In this sense, the ultimate goal of <br />our program--the optimum utilization of our nation's total water <br />resources--may never be fully realized. <br /> <br />16 <br />