Abstract
The purpose of this experiment is to show that massive cloud seeding is effective in mitigating the damage caused by heavy snowfall. In order to show its effect, we attempted to form a canal in a thick convective cloud by massive seeding, and left the parts that were not influenced by the seeding as a reference to show that the canal was formed by the massive seeding only. The seeding was carried out by using an aircraft. The seeding rate and air speed of the aircraft were 35 g s−1 and 115 m s−1, respectively. The flight course for seeding was selected to be parallel to the wind direction to ensure that the dispersed liquid carbon dioxide did not influence both sides of the course. The results show that a part of the radar echo observed from onboard beneath the seeding track was weakened and divided the radar echo into two parts 20 minutes after the cloud top and the bottom were seeded, and distribution of rainfall rate on the ground from the target cloud was confirmed to be divided into two parts 24 minutes after the seeding. The target cloud was torn along the seeding track, and we could see the sea surface through the break in the cloud. Canal formation occurred in the cloud along the seeding track. Clouds and snowfall were left on both sides of the canal. The results show that supercooled liquid cloud particles along the seeding track evaporated to form larger precipitable particles which grew and fell rapidly.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bruintjes, R. T., 1999: A review of cloud seeding experiments to enhance precipitation and some new prospects. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 80, 805–820.
Coons, R. D., E. L. Jones, and R. Gunn, 1948: Second partial report on the artificial production of precipitation: Cumuliform clouds, Ohio, 1948. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 29, 544–546.
Dai Jin, Yu Xin, Rosenfeld D., et al., 2007: Microphysical effects of cloud seeding in supercooled stratiform clouds observed from NOAA satellite. Acta Meteor. Sinica, 21, 224–233.
Dennis, A. S., and H. D. Orville, 1997: Comments on “A new look at the Israeli cloud seeding experiments”. J. Appl. Meteor., 36, 277–278.
English, M., and J. D. Marwitz, 1981: A comparison of AgI and CO2 seeding effects in Alberta cumulus clouds. J. Appl. Meteor., 20, 483–495.
Fukuta, N., W. A. Schmeling, and L. F. Evans, 1971: Experimental determination of ice nucleation by falling dry ice pellets. J. Appl. Meteor., 10, 1174–1179.
Fukuta, N., and T. Takahashi, 1999: The growth of atmospheric ice crystals: A summary of findings in vertical supercooled cloud tunnel studies. J. Atmos. Sci., 56, 1963–1979.
Garstang, M., R. Bruintjes, R. Serafin, et al., 2004: Weather modification: Finding common ground. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 85, 647–655.
Heymsfield, A. J., G. Thompson, H. Morrison, et al., 2011: Formation and spread of aircraft-induced holes in clouds. Science, 333, 77–81.
Hobbs, P. V., M. K. Politovich, and L. F. Radke, 1980: The structures of summer convective clouds in eastern Montana. I: Natural clouds. J. Appl. Meteor., 19, 645–663.
Hobbs, P. V., and M. K. Politovich, 1980: The structures of summer convective clouds in eastern Montana. II: Effects of artificial seeding. J. Appl. Meteor., 19, 664–675.
Holroyd III, E. W., and J. E. Jiusto, 1971: Snowfall from a heavily seeded cloud. J. Appl. Meteor., 10, 266–269.
Ikawa, M., H. Mizuno, T. Matsuo, et al., 1991: Numerical modeling of the convective snow cloud over the sea of Japan. Precipitation mechanism and sensitivity to ice crystal nucleation rates. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 69, 641–667.
Korolev, A., 2007: Limitations of the Wegner-Bergeron- Findeisen mechanism in the evolution of mixedphase clouds. J. Atmos. Sci., 64, 3372–3375.
Lin, Y.-H., R. D. Farley, and H. D. Orville, 1983: Bulk parameterization of the snow field in a cloud model. J. Climate Appl. Meteor., 22, 1065–1092.
Maki, T., O. Morita, Y. Suzuki, et al., 2013: Artificial rainfall technique based on the aircraft seeding of liquid carbon dioxide near Miyake and Mikura islands, Tokyo, Japan. J. Agric. Meteor., 69, 147–157.
Maki, T., O. Morita, Y. Suzuki, et al., 2014: Artificial rainfall experiment by seeding liquid carbon dioxide above the Izu islands of Tokyo on 14 March 2013. J. Agric. Meteor., 70, 199–211.
Marwitz, J. D., and R. E. Stewart, 1981: Some seeding signatures in Sierra storms. J. Appl. Meteor., 20, 1129–1144.
Miyagi, H., T. Iriguchi, D. Satoh, et al., 2012: Improvement of analysis rainfall, precipitation short time forecast, and precipitation nowcasting. Training text of forecast technology in Japan Meteorological Agency, 18, 108–121. (in Japanese)
Miller Jr., J. R., E. I. Boyd, R. A. Schleusener, et al., 1975: Hail suppression data from western North Dakota, 1969–1972. J. Appl. Meteor., 14, 755–762.
Rangno, A. L., and P. V. Robbs, 1995: A new look at the Israeli cloud seeding experiments. J. Appl. Meteor., 34, 1169–1193.
Rangno, A. L., and P. V. Hobbs, 1997: Reply. J. Appl. Meteor., 36, 279.
Rosenfeld, D., and W. L. Woodley, 1989: Effects of cloud seeding in West Texas. J. Appl. Meteor., 28, 1050–1080.
Rosenfeld, D., A. L. Rangno, P. V. Hobbs, 1997: Comments on: A new look at the Israeli cloud seeding experiments. J. Appl. Meteor., 36, 260–276.
Sakakibara, H., M. Ishihara, and Z. Yanagisawa, 1988: Squall line like convective snowbands over the Sea of Japan. J. Meteor. Soc. Japan, 66, 937–953.
Schaefer, V. J., 1946: The production of ice crystals in a cloud of supercooled water droplets. Science, 104, 457–459.
Silverman, B. A., 2001: A critical assessment of glaciogenic seeding of convective clouds for rainfall enhancement. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 82, 903–923.
Stewart, R. W., 1986: Weather modification in Alberta. Summary report and recommendations.
Stull, R. B., 1997: An Introduction to Boundary Layer Meteorology. Springer, Netherlands. 17 pp.
Tessendorf, S. A., R. T. Bruintjes, C. Weeks, et al., 2012: The Queensland cloud seeding research program. Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 93, 75–90.
Woodley, W. L., J. Jordan, A. Barnston, et al., 1982: Rainfall results of the Florida area cumulus experiment, 1970–76. J. Appl. Meteor., 21, 139–164.
Zoljoodi, M., and A. Didevarasl, 2013: Evaluation of cloud seeding project in Yazd Province of Iran using historical regression method (case study: Yazd 1 cloud seeding project, 1999). Nat. Sci., 5, 1006–1011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kikuro, T., Masaki, S., Kenji, W. et al. An example of canal formation in a thick cloud induced by massive seeding using liquid carbon dioxide. J Meteorol Res 29, 682–690 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-015-5005-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13351-015-5005-y