Indian Scientists Get Breakthrough in Cloud Seeding

Context:

• Cloud seeding experiments in Maharashtra’s Solapur region resulted in 18 per cent more rainfall than usual, as per a study published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (BAMS).

Ministry of Earth Sciences’ Initiative: Experiment on Cloud Seeding with Hygroscopic Method

• The experiment involved hygroscopic cloud seeding, which is done in warm convective clouds with a cloud base height greater than zero degree Celsius. 
• Calcium chloride particles were released at the convective cloud base to trigger rainfall.
• The study was part of a project initiated by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and highlights the potential of cloud seeding as a method to alleviate water stress in certain regions.

What are the two types of cloud seeding?

• Hygroscopic cloud seeding: It aims at speeding up droplet coalescence in liquid clouds, leading to production of large droplets that start to precipitate. 
• Glaciogenic cloud seeding: It triggers ice production in supercooled clouds, leading to precipitation. 
  • Glaciogenic cloud seeding is usually done by dispersing efficient ice nuclei, such as silver iodide particles or dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) into the cloud.

Benefits of Cloud Seeding

• Cloud seeding is used all over the world as a method for:
  • Enhancing winter snowfall and increasing mountain snowpack
  • Supplementing the natural water supply available to communities of the surrounding area.

News Source: Economic Times

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