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<br />It should be emphasized that no actual cloud seeding will be undertaken as <br />part of the Southwest Drought Research Program. Feedback from the State <br />projects will help. in setting policy directions and priorities for future <br />Federal weather modification efforts. <br /> <br />Investigations <br /> <br />Drought research studies are being conducted under two broad categories <br />(fig. 1). Technical investigations include developing the climatology of <br />drought and nondrought periods, assessing the potential for weather modifica- <br />tion during drought and nondrought periods, estimating probable economic and <br />agricultural benefits and probable social and environmental impacts of cloud <br />seeding for drought mitigation, and evaluating alternatives to cloud seeding <br />for drought mitigation. Institutional investigations consider the issues of <br />authorization for conducting cloud seeding for drought mitigation, the issues <br />of organization for decisionmaking and for communicating the need for, and <br />results of cloud seeding, and the issues regarding funding to support cloud <br />seeding for drought mitigation. <br /> <br />Basic to both investigations is the definition of a drought. Meteorological <br />drought involves the amount of precipitation that occurs, usually for specific <br />durations. Hydrologic drought pertains to streamflow, ground water levels, <br />and surface storage. Agricultural drought involves the availability of soil <br />moisture in the root zone. This type of drought must consider the kind of <br />plant, its stages of growth, rooting depth, and soil characteristics as well <br />as meteorological factors that affect moisture supply and demand from day to <br />day. Urban drought considers the availability of municipal and industrial <br />water. The effective use of weather modification requires the understanding <br />of the characteristics of each kind of drought, the general meteorological <br />conditions that exist during these droughts, and when weather modification <br />should be applied to be beneficial. <br /> <br />2 <br />