WMOD00576

• Title: Summary of Weather Modification Activities Reported in 1979
• Date: 7/1/1980
• Weather Modification - Doc Type: Report

SUMMARY OF WEATHER MODIFICATION ACTIVITIES
REPORTED IN 1979

ABSTRACT

This report summarizes ~reather modification activities
reported to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin-
istration in calendar year 1979. Infonnation is pre-
sented on the purposes, locations, sponsors, operators,
equipment, techniques, target areas, seeding agents,
seeding duration, operational procedures, and environ-
mental factors associated with the activities. The data
for 1979 are compared with the data reported for 1973 - 78,
and some trends are noted.

INTRODUCTION

All nonfederally sponsored attl~mpts to modify the weather must be reported
to the Secretary of Commerce in eompliance with Public Law 92-205 enacted
in 1971. The Secretary delegated the responsibility for administering the
reporting program to the National Oceanic 8,nd Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) a year later. Relevant Fl~deral agencies agreed to report their
weather modification activities to NOAA in 1973. As a result, NOAA maintains
and publishes the only complete :record of infonnation on weather modifica-
tion projects undertaken in the United States and its territories. This
infonnation provides factual data on prior and current weather modification
experiments and operational projects. Timely reporting of activities
supplies infonnation that can be used to assess the possibility of hann to
persons, property, or the environment, or of interference with Federal or
other research projects.

I
I,

The reports of weather modification acti,rities on file with NOAA furnish
useful infonnation for several other purposes. Persons planning projects,
writing news articles, or preparing term papers request historical and
current data for individual states, regions, or the United States.
Congressional staffs, Federal and State officials, and private citizens
inquire or complain about weather modification activities that are thought
to be associated with adverse weather conditions. On occasion, plaintiffs,
defendents, or their lawyers ask for records of activities in connection
with law suits. All requests for data are honored by either a telephone
reply, copies of reports, letters, or referrals.

In addition, NOAA's reporting program serves two functions on the inter-
national scene. On March 26, 1975, the Government of the United States and
the Government of Canada signed an agreement to exchange infonnation on
weather modification activities carried out in or over the territory of

1