SOAR

•  SOAR is a group of researchers and operators (research meteorologists, operational meteorologists, weather modification pilots, research pilots, mechanics, and technicians) that conduct sound scientific weather modification research and cloud seeding operations. The group’s fleet, based in Wichita Falls and other locations, is equipped with the latest research-grade instrumentation for cloud physics and aerosol studies.
• SOAR’s main field office is at Wichita Falls, Texas. The company’s shipping address is 4515 Old Jacksboro Hwy, Wichita Falls, TX 76302. SOAR also has seeding operations in Puerto Rico, Southern Ogallala, Trans-Pecos, and Istanbul.
•  Gary Walker is SOAR’s CEO.
• SOAR's current strategy involves its fleet of high-performance cloud physics research aircraft that use the latest research-grade instrumentation available for cloud physics and aerosol studies.
• According to SOAR’s website, the company positions itself in the market as an elite group of researchers and operators with a fleet of high-performance cloud physics research aircraft at its disposal.

Kyathi Climate Modification Consultants

• Established in 2015, Kyathi Climate Modification Consultants LLP (hereafter “Kyathi”) provides consulting services related to meteorological equipment, tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, and scientific atmospheric solutions. The company also provides state-of-the-art C-band Doppler radar.
• Kyathi’s primary area of operation is India’s Bengaluru, Karnataka region.
• Kyathi is a Limited Liability Partnership. The partnership is composed of Prakash Krishnappa Koliwad, Ramesh Hanamantgouda Odugaudar, Arun Govind Karjol, and Poornima Prakash Koliwad. Kyathi’s CEO is Prakash Koliwad.
• Kyathi’s current strategy involves the use of C-band Doppler radar. The company also has a strong dynamic in the global cloud seeding equipment market, which is projected to grow vibrantly in upcoming years.
• Kyathi’s market position focuses on being able to provide state-of-the-art Doppler radar.

Research Strategy:

AF JETS

Company Overview and History

•  AF Jets is a general aviation company providing a variety of aviation-related services, including weather modification/cloud seeding.
• AF Jets was established in 2006 with a focus on aircraft supplies and parts.
• In 2010, the company began offering weather modification services.
• In 2011, they were contracted by the Malaysian government to provide these services in the country in response to severe drought conditions. The public perception of the company's weather modification efforts in Malaysia was negative at first, but turned positive over time.
• By 2013, there was significant public interest in the artificial rainfall the company was creating in Malaysia from the Malaysian public as well as surrounding countries.

Geography

• AF Jets provides cloud seeding services in Malaysia.

Owner and C-Suite

• Amrul Nizar Anuar is the founder, owner and CEO of AF Jets.
• Safuan Basir is director at AF Jets.
• Mohd Zaini Abd Ghani is general manager and SMS manager at AF Jets.
• Muhammad Faidzal Mohd Ghazali is deputy CEO at AF Jets.

Method

• AF Jets uses the ice crystal method in its weather modification efforts in Malaysia.
• According to the company, this method "will ignite ice crystal flare in the middle of air, thus causing water to gather at a certain spot and form cloud."
• This method eliminates the need for harsh chemicals, including silver iodide.

Market Position

• AF Jets's website notes that its method eliminates the need for harsh chemicals, including silver iodide, which makes their services more positively perceived by the public in the area it serves.
• The company identifies innovation as one of its values, stating, "We believe in creativity, think out of the box and research on technological processes to create services that distinguish us from other companies."
• The company also states that it provides the highest possible quality of services to its customers.

Key Customers

• The government of Malaysia is the only named client of weather modification services for AF Jets.

3D GENERAL AVIATION APPLICATIONS, SA

Company Overview

• 3D General Aviation Applications, SA (3D, SA) was founded in 1976 in Greece.
• The company offers a variety of agricultural and aviation technologies, including weather modification/cloud seeding.
• The company has been involved in weather modification since 1981 and is a member of the Weather Modification Association. The main goals of the company's weather modification program are to fight drought by increasing rain and snowfall and to protect crops and property from damage caused by hail.
• The company's earliest weather modification efforts were related to hail mitigation with projects aimed at increasing precipitation beginning in 1994.

Geography

• 3D, SA has weather modification programs in Greece and Saudi Arabia.

Owner and C-Suite

• The company is owned by Dimitrios Skepastianos, who is also the President.

Method

• 3D, SA uses direct penetration in its weather modification efforts. According to the company, this is "the seeding of Silver Iodide (AgI) or dry ice from aircrafts to the target area at the right moment."
• This process results in the creation of ice crystals, which then become snow or rain.

Market Position

• 3D, SA presents itself as offering a wide range of aviation services, distinguishing it from other companies.
• It calls itself "one of the most innovative companies in the world regarding Protection against Adverse Weather Phenomena."
• It also claims to be one of the 4 most-recognized weather modification companies in the world.

Key Clients

• Key weather modification clients of 3D, SA include the Agricultural Insurance Organization, Athens Water Company and Project DAPHNE.

North American Weather Consultants

• The company was established in 1950 and has since then provided meteorological, weather modification, and air quality consulting services.
• North American Weather Consultants was initially established as a weather modification company and later expanded into providing other services mentioned above.

• Garrett Cammans is the owner of the North American Weather Consultants.

Mettech S.p.A

• Mettech S.p.A. was founded in 2013.
• The company specializes in cloud seeding programs with Silver Iodide Terrestrial Generator.
• Mettech S.p.A. has an experienced team with great a commitment towards weather modification activities.

Research Strategy

Jeff French

•  Jeff French is an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming who has been publishing papers and research on weather modification and cloud seeding since 1996.
• In January 2018, French was the lead author of "Precipitation Formation from Orographic Cloud Seeding." The paper reported on research that occurred from January to March 2017 and demonstrated "direct observation of cloud seeding."
• French was chosen as a thought leader because of the research he is doing on cloud seeding. His first published research on microphysics goes back to 1998, and French as given many presentations on the topic of cloud seeding and the related science. Conferences that he has presented at include the Conference on Cloud Physics, the International Conference on Airborne Research for the Environment, and the International Conference on Clouds and Precipitation.
• Through his research published in January 2018, it is clear that he believes that cloud seeding is a valid science that needs further research to determine when and how it is most effective.

Dr. Thara Prabhakaran

•  Dr. Thara Prabhakaran is a scientist at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), is an expert in cloud microphysics, and is leading a large experiment in hygroscopic cloud seeding.
• Details on Prabhakaran's research, awards, and expertise can be found here.
• Prabhakaran was chosen both because of her expert status in the field of cloud seeding and because she is a member of the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) Expert Team on Weather Modification. 
• The Cloud-Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEEX) that Prabhakaran is leading shows that she is a proponent of cloud seeding and weather modification. One of the goals of the project is to determine when and how cloud seeding is effective.

Michael Manton

•  Michael Manton is an Emeritus Professor, School of Earth Atmosphere and Environment at Monash University in Australia. His areas of interest are air quality, climate observations, and cloud physics.
• Manton was chosen as a thought leader in cloud seeding/weather modification because of the research he is currently conducting on orographic precipitation, and because he was one of the earliest members of the WMO Expert Team on Weather Modification.
• Manton's research indicates that he believes in the science of weather modification and is currently working to uncover biases and limitations of the science.

Roelof Bruintjes

• Roelof Bruintjes is the principal scientist of weather modification programs at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research.
• Links to a total of 68 publications/presentations that Bruintjes has been involved in since 1986, can be found on his staff page.
• Bruintjes was chosen as an industry expert due to his extensive experience in the field of cloud seeding, as well as his position as the chairman of the WMO Expert Team on Weather Modification.
• His involvement in the weather modification field for over 30 years is a clear indicator that he is a believer in the science of weather modification and is working to continually advance the science of the field.

Sufian Farrah

• Sufian Farrah is a senior forecaster and cloud seeding expert at the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) in the United Arab Emirates.
• Farrah was chosen as an industry expert due to his position working with the cloud seeding program in the UAE. It was reported that 10-15% of the rain in the UAE in 2018 was due to cloud seeding.
• Since Farrah is on the front lines of the cloud seeding initiative in the UAE and is reporting on the success of the program, it is clear he is a believer in the science of cloud seeding.

Applications for Which Cloud Seeding Technology is Currently Being Used

Increasing Precipitation in an Area

•  Silver iodine is used to induce rain production in areas where there is barely any precipitation and rain is needed for keeping the soil hydrated. For example, a field of crops where there hasn't been any natural rain can use cloud seeding to induce precipitation. The primary methods used to increase precipitation are hygroscopic seeding, which affects warm cloud processes and glaciogenic seeding, which initiates cold cloud processes.
• During warm seasons, cloud seeding is aimed at convective clouds, which is most effectively done from aircraft by dropping the seeding agents directly into the upper regions of the clouds.
• One example of precipitation induction with cloud seeding is the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where officials used the technology to ensure that it rained before and not on the opening ceremony, as well as to increase favorable weather conditions for the games. China has the biggest ongoing cloud seeding program in the world, spending around $90 million per year to increase rainfall for farming, and help clear the air pollution in major cities.

Evaporating Fog and Clouds to Keep an Area Dry by Precipitating Out

• Cloud seeding can also be used for the treatment of fog. Supercooled fogs can easily be cleared by glaciogenic seeding, either from the ground or from airborne application.
• In fog dispersion, cloud seeding allows small drops to evaporate and then condensate on the seeded particles, allowing the liquid and vapor water to disperse onto fewer drops that grow faster and precipitate.
• For example, the technology is being implemented around the world for clearing fog from airports.

Reducing Hail Fall

• Cloud seeding can be used to help mitigate hail damage. Since hail is ice produced by convective clouds, glaciogenic seeding techniques can be used to manipulate such clouds. With this technology, excess is induced to freeze into many small particles instead of less large particles. The ice that precipitates melts during its transit through the warm sub-cloud layer, and the one that doesn't precipitate reaches the surface as much smaller, less-damaging, ice.
• In 2011, the company Western Kansas Groundwater seeded a 6,766 square mile area in Kansas during the months of April through September to prevent hailstorms.
• The company Weather Modification Inc. is using seeding techniques to decrease the size of hailstones in order to reduce damage to crops and property in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Applications for Which Cloud Seeding Technology Could Be Used in the Future

Increase Cloud Cover Over the Oceans

• Bill Gates is financing a new project to reduce the heat of the planet by increasing cloud cover over the oceans.
• The project consists of an unmanned, floating sprayer that could throw sea salt specks into the atmosphere to condense moisture. The technology is based on principles discovered by Anton Flettner.

Increase Raindrop Size

• German, Swiss, and French researchers are developing a laser technique for increasing raindrop size, which is being tested in Berlin.
• The laser, which power is greater than 1,000 power plants, is fired into the sky, "reconstituting atoms in the air into components that could seed bigger and better water droplets."

Turbocharging Snowfall

• After decades of cloud seeding research and experimentation, scientists in Idaho have recently demonstrated that turbocharging snowfall can be possible.
• Researchers tested with supercooled clouds, with temperatures of 0°C to –15°C. Testing whether this approach is economical is still pending.

Research Strategy:

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES

•  French et al. published a paper in 2018 detailing a study on glaciogenic seeding. The study was able to produce precipitation (snow) on a mountain surface from silver iodide glaciogenic seeding. The study used radars (ground-based X-band and airborne W-band) and in situ cloud physics to determine the start and development of the ice crystals from the silver iodide glaciogenic seeding.
• In 2018, Rasmussen et al. published a paper on the results of a model used to estimate the impact of AgI ground-based cloud seeding for the Wyoming Weather Modification Pilot Project (WWMPP). Their results found that the seeding impact on annual precipitation over the Sierra Madre and Medicine Bow Mountains in Wyoming is about 1.5%.
•  Chu and Geerts published a paper in 2017 in American Meteorological Society about gound-based glaciogenic seeding. The study found that AgI glaciogenic seeding does increase the amount of snow fall in a shallow, largely blocked cloud.
• In 2016, Lulin Xue published a case study to determine AgI impacts on precipitation. More precipitation is generated when AgI particles are released from ground-based generators. The simulations of the seeding event found that the seeding effect ranged between 5 and 20% over the Medicine Bow Mountains for different grid spacings.
• The Wyoming Weather Modification Pilot Program-Level II Study published in 2014 found that there is a positive effect from seeding between 5 and 15%.

LACK OF IMPLEMENTATION

LACK OF RIGOROUS STATISTICS

• The lack of implementation stems from the lack of rigorous statistics. These weak statistics are caused by the nature of these studies. When a cloud is seeded it is now impossible to determine whether that exact same cloud would have rained or snowed.
• The effect of cloud seeding is hard to determine, despite constantly improving computer modeling.
• Scientists are still trying to determine if cloud seeding produces increased snowpack on the ground. The science is still not consistent enough to fully determine the effect, but the science is improving.

CONCERNS FOR HEALTH AND SAFETY

• There are concerns for the environment after seeding a cloud with AgI. Silver is toxic to organisms living in water in high amounts. Shawn Benner, a geochemist, claims that the AgI levels after seeding found in surface water are below 50,000 ppt (the toxic threshold), but if seeding clouds becomes common the silver levels could become a concern.
• The public is also concerned that silver iodide might make them sick. Science fiction movies and conspiracy theories also mislead the public about the science behind cloud seeding.
• The public does not understand exactly what happens in cloud seeding and that can create doubt and confusion. One such confusion is that drought can be caused downwind of a cloud seeding event.

RESEARCH STRATEGY: