An Update on the North Dakota Cloud Modification Project
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54782/jwm.v30i1.471Abstract
Operational cloud seeding has been conducted over parts of western North Dakota since the 1950’s. Operations began with ground based seeding in the early years, but by the early 1960’s airborne delivery of seeding agents became the preferred method. Currently, a combination of cloud base and cloud top seeding is employed on the North Dakota Cloud Modification Project (NDCMP) using an acetone-based AgI solution, end-burning AgI flares, ejectable AgI flares, and dry ice pellets (CO2) as seeding agents. The goals of the dual-purpose project are to increase growing season precipitation and reduce crop and property damage caused by hail. The project is funded by county tax levies and limited state cost-sharing. Operations are conducted from June 1 through August 31 each year, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Every evaluation of the project has indicated beneficial results, but with varying statistical confidence. Rainfall increases on the order of 7 to 15% have been realized in and slightly downwind of the target counties. Crop-hall damage as been reduced by 45% and wheat yields have increased by 5.9%. A benefit-to-cost ratio of 35:1 has been realized for wheat production alone.Downloads
Issue
Section
Technical Notes and Correspondence
License
Authors that submit papers for publication agree to the Journal’s copyright and publication terms. Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the manuscript’s authorship and initial publication in Journal of Weather Modification. Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in the Journal of Weather Modification. Authors are permitted to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process to encourage productive exchanges and greater citation of the published article.
Articles are published online using restricted access for the first year. After the first year, articles are made freely available online. Immediate open access for an article may be obtained by the author paying an open access fee which is in addition to the normal page changes. Authors are expected to honor a page charge in order to support publication and distribution of the journal. After the author approves the gallery formatted version for publication, the Weather Modification Association’s Secretary will invoice the corresponding author for the page charges and payment is due within 30 days.
How to Cite
An Update on the North Dakota Cloud Modification Project. (1998). The Journal of Weather Modification, 30(1), 85-90. https://doi.org/10.54782/jwm.v30i1.471