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<br />PART II: COMPARISON OF DATA REPORTED <br />SINCE 1973 <br /> <br />Data Base <br /> <br />The data from Part I of this report and from the complete calendar Ylears <br />1973, 1974, and 1975 have been reviewed to determine what trends, if ~~y, <br />were apparent in the Nation's weather modification activities. The data for <br />1973-75 were reexamined and adjusted to account for changes in the reporting <br />procedures. One change provides that, after an initial report of a planned <br />activity is received, some of the subsequent reporting requirements m~y be <br />waived. This decision by NOAA to waive is based on the general acceptability, <br />from a technical or scientific viewpoint, of the apparatus and techniques to <br />be used in the activity (See section 908.3(d) of the attached reporting rules, <br />appendix B). <br /> <br />1 <br /> <br />Another change in reporting procedures covered the information required <br />on interim and final reports. In June 1976, the forms were changed to re- <br />quire the number of modification days per major purpose; in prior years, <br />the number of modification days per cloud type (cumulus, stratus, etc.) <br />were to be reported. <br /> <br />Analysis of Data <br /> <br />Table 7 provides data on several aspects of reported weather modification <br />activities for the calendar years 1973-78. These data allow some compari- <br />sons and trends to be observed for the 6 years. <br /> <br />Number of Activities <br /> <br />Inspection of the data for the 6 years suggests a downward trend aftE~r <br />CY 1975 in the number of weather modification activities, except for the <br />peak in CY 1977. The data for the anomalous year of 1977 were influenced <br />by the critical water shortages in several areas of the United States and <br />the increase in cloud seeding projects to alleviate these shortages. <br /> <br />Operators and Sponsors <br /> <br />The data show that the number of conunercia1 modifiers declined over the <br />6-year period, and the number of Federal agency operators has decreased in <br />recent years. The decrease in Federal agency operators is explained by the <br />curtailment of Army and Navy fog modification experiments. <br /> <br />17 <br />