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<br />~l <br />I <br />I <br /> <br />I <br />J <br />I <br /> <br />I. BACKGROUND <br /> <br />Probably the first rain stimulation proposal having a reasonable <br />scientific basis was that made by James P. Espy. In the April 5, 1839 <br />issue of the National Gazette and Literary Register of Philadelphia, <br />Espy proposed building large fires to generate updrafts. H~ reasoned <br />that in a humid atmosphere cumulus clouds would develop and eventually <br />produce rain. There are no records indicating the scheme led to any <br />field trials. In the 1880's Congress appropriated $10,000 to conduct <br />some field experiments based on an old idea that "it always rains <br />after a battle". Subsequently, tests were performed with explosive <br />charges carried aloft by balloons; some optimistic reports soon <br />followed. In the 1930's work done by T. Bergeron and W. Findeisen led <br />to the formulation of the concept that clouds may contain supercooled <br />water and ice crystals which led further to the concepts of "warm <br />rain" and "cold rain" (explained later in section II---The Physical <br />Basis For Cloud Seeding). <br /> <br />Modern scientific cloud modification had its serious beginnings <br />in the late 1940's in Schenectady, New York at the General Electric <br />Laboratories. Dry ice and silver iodide were the ice nucleating agents <br />used by the researchers Schaefer, Langmuir and Vonnegut during early <br />trials in the laboratory and field. The ice nucleating agents used in <br />cloud seeding have changed little with time and still are used in <br />Kansas as well as on programs throughout the world. <br /> <br />In 1972 the Kansas Legislature took a giant and progressive step <br />forward when it enacted the Groundwater Management District Act, The <br />Act enabled interested groups to form organizations to implement area <br />water conservation programs for themselves, Western Kansas Groundwater <br />Management District #1 (WKGMD #1) thus became a legal entity of the <br />State of Kansas, <br /> <br />Soon after WKGMD #T came into being, the Groundwater District <br />supporters turned their efforts to identifying organizational program <br />goals and specific objectives, One primary objective was to organize, <br />design and implement an operational weather modification program to <br />seed convective clouds to help alleviate the ever-increasing loss of <br />sub-surface water in Western Kansas. The decision to implement such a <br />program came after thoroughly reviewing results from the research <br />program known as The Kansas Cumulus Project (KANCUP) and from the <br />state-sponsored seeding programs in North Dakota and South Dakota. <br /> <br />WKGMD #1 envisioned perennially supporting a program which would <br />conduct operations during the period of planting, growing and <br />harvesting of crops in Western Kansas. The program objectives were to: <br /> <br />(1) increase areal rainfall by seeding selected clouds in the <br />absence of severe or potentially severe weather <br /> <br />(2) decrease the occurrence of crop-damaging hail by seeding <br />potentially severe storms <br /> <br />(3) demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of projects <br />of this type in the western High Plains states <br />