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<br />the technology. Table 1-1 presents salient information about each <br />of the projects currently active or planned. More detailed <br />descriptions of the actions are contained in paragraphs 1.3 and <br />1.4. Current activities other than field work are described in <br />paragraph 1.8. Figure 1-1 shows the location of Project Skywater <br />activities. <br /> <br />The scope of the subject matter of Project Sky"ater is circum- <br />scribed by directives that call for focus of attention on the <br />removal of crucial scientific uncertainties. For more than a <br />quarter of a century. scientific research on weather modification <br />has coexisted with practical applications. ~ith a few exceptions. <br />practical applications have been sporadic. The Xational Academy <br />of Science and other scientific bodies have rated these operations <br />as technologically primitive and often questionable in effective- <br />ness. Widespread acceptance of the technology for precipitation <br />augmentation has not taken place. even where the need for water <br />is acute. <br /> <br />Generally. nonacceptance of precipitation aug~entation has been <br />ascribed to crucial uncertainties. Some of these are scientific <br />in nature, such as the uncertainty as to the path followed by <br />seeding agents carried by the wind across a mountain range. <br />Others have to do with possible environmental effects. Still <br />others are the legal or social questions. such as uncertainty <br />about legal rights to the resulting water. or liability for <br />damages caused by adverse weather. or the future price of crops <br />produced with the aid of augmented rainfall. <br /> <br />Project Skywater is addressed to removing the scientific uncer- <br />tainties that appear to stand in the way of more widespread <br />beneficial application of precipitation management. within the <br />scope of the two settings described above. <br /> <br />An effective technology will perform four functions. The first <br />is analysis of a given setting in terms of effectiveness of the <br />expected precipitation augmentation to attain a desired result. <br />such as increased crop production. the suitability of the climate <br />for the proposed modification. and the means required to achieve <br />the desired ends. The second function is the recognition of spe- <br />cific treatable weather conditions on a day-by-day and hour-by- <br />hour basis in order to distinguish between suitable and nonsuit- <br />able occasions for modification. <br /> <br />The third function is prescribing and carrying out the actual <br />treatment, involving the release of seeding agents at given times <br />and places. The fourth function is analysis of the results. with <br /> <br />1-2 <br />