Weather Mod Critical Issues Report

• Project Type: General OWC
• Project Name: Weather Modification
• Title: Critical Issues in Weather Modification Research
• Date: 1/1/2004
• Water Conservation - Doc Type: Final Report

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We support many ofthe recommendations of the NRC panel, but add several of
our own:

. We support the NRC recommendation that there be a renewed commitment to
advancing our knowledge of fundamental processes that are cel}tral to the issues of
intentional and inadvertent weather modification.

. We support the NRC recommendation that a coordinated national program be
developed to conduct a sustained research effort in the areas of cloud and
precipitation physics, cloud dynamics, cloud modeling, laboratory studies, and field
measurements designed to reduce the key uncertainties that impede progress and
understanding of intentional and inadvertent weather modification. But, we argue
that the coordinated national program should also support exploratory and
confirmatory field studies in weather modification. It should capitalize on
operational cloud seeding programs, and use them as a basis for testing models, and
developing new statistical methods for evaluating the efficacy of those operations,

. We support the NRC conclusion that a coordinated research program should
capitalize on new remote and in situ observational tools to carry out exploratory and
confirmatory experiments in a variety of cloud and storm systems.

. The Board on Atmospheric Sciences and Climate workshop report (BASe, 2001)
recommended that a "Watershed Experiment" be conducted in the mountainous West
using all of the available technology and equipment that can be brought to bear on a
particular region which is water short and politically visible from a water resource
management perspective, We strongly support this earlier recommendation that was
not then included in the NRC report, Such a "Watershed Experiment" should be fully
randomized and well equipped, and be conducted in the region ofthe mountainous
West ofthe U.S. where enhanced precipitation will benefit substantial segments of
the community, including enhancing water supplies in over-subscribed major water
basins, urban areas, and Native American communities, for ranching and farming
operations, and for recreation. This research should include "chain-of-events"
investigations using airborne and remote sensing technologies, along with trace
chemistry analysis of snowfall from the target area. Model simulations should be
used to determine optimum positioning and times of operation for ground-based and
aircraft seeding, The work should include evaluations of precipitation, run-off, and
recharge of ground water aquifers. Also, it should include environmental impact
studies including water quality, hazard evaluations such as avalanches, stream flow
standards and protection of endangered species. Research is also recommended on
seeding chemical formulations to improve efficiencies and on improving technology
used in seeding aerosol delivery systems.

. We recommend the application of existing and newly developed numerical models
that explicitly predict transport and dispersion of cloud seeding agents and activation
of cloud condensation nuclei, giant cloud condensation nuclei, and ice nuclei, as well
as condensation/evaporation and collection processes in detail, to the simulation of

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