All you Need to Know about Cloud Seeding

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all you need to know about cloud seeding

Cloud seeding is a process or a technique which creates clouds and then leads to rain.  This process works well in those conditions where there are clouds that constitute of water droplets at a temperature which is below the temperature of the freezing point of water.

What happens is that nuclei particles are artificially introduced so that ice particles can form around them.  These particles then tend to become heavier and fall from the sky to the earth rapidly. While falling, they melt and look like rain.

Cloud seeding is basically a form of weather modification and is done as an attempt to change the type or amount of precipitation which falls from the clouds. To know more about cloud seeding, you can read the following given information.

all you need to know about cloud seeding

What is used to Conduct Cloud Seeding?

While conducting cloud seeding, the particles or substances that are used are silver iodide and dry ice pellets. Silver iodide proves to be a useful and effective particle because its crystal is very similar to that of ice. This basically means that ice can easily form and gather on these crystals or particles.  In some cases, even liquid propane has been used because it expands into a gas.  In this case, ice crystals are produced at higher temperatures as compared to silver iodide.  In recent years and after considerable research, even hygroscopic materials like table salt have been growing in popularity.

How is Cloud Seeding Done?

The particles or substances mentioned above are dispersed in the clouds by either making use of ground based rocket launchers or by spraying them from special airplanes or aircrafts. In the case of using aircrafts for spraying, the silver iodide flares are ignited and then they are dispersed as the aircraft goes through the inflow of the cloud.  But in the case when it is done through rocket launchers, the crystals or particles are carried upwards and downwards by the air flow or currents after they are released.

Why is this Process Done?

The main idea behind doing something like cloud seeding is to increase precipitation in an area either through rain or snow.  In some cases, this is also done to suppress fog and hail.

Types of cloud seeding methods:

Hygroscopic

This is a method in which salt is dispersed through explosives or flares in the lower portions of the clouds. In this process, as salt grows in size as the water joins it.

Static

Static cloud seeding is the most popular and common cloud seeding method and it involves spraying silver iodide or a similar chemical into the clouds. The silver iodide helps to provide a crystal around which moisture tends to condense and leads to rain.

Dynamic

This is the third method of cloud seeding and involves boosting of vertical air currents which promote more quantity of water to go through the clouds and leading to rain. About 100 more times crystals are used in this process as compared to the static cloud seeding method.

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