Cloud seeding trials fail in Delhi: Here's why it didn't work
Cloud seeding trials fail in Delhi: National capital air is always toxic, especially in winter. Smog (a mixture of haze and smoke) makes people sick. To clean it, scientists are trying artificial rain (cloud seeding). Professor Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur, recently reported that the first cloud seeding experiment was conducted in Delhi, but it didn't rain.
Why? Because the humidity in the clouds was very low—only 15%. Still, the experiment was successful, reducing pollution by 6-10%.
Scientists say, "Right clouds + right humidity = successful rain." Next time, perhaps Delhi's air will be cleaner.
Let's understand this entire story through scientific facts: how moisture in clouds works to induce artificial rain. For now, the IIT Kanpur team has temporarily postponed the next trial scheduled for today. The cloud seeding process will resume when moisture is detected in the clouds.
Why are wet clouds important in cloud seeding?
Suppose clouds are floating in the sky. These clouds are made up of water droplets. However, sometimes these droplets are so small that they cannot fall, preventing rain. Cloud seeding solves this problem. It is a scientific method in which small particles are injected into the clouds from airplanes or the ground. These particles act as seeds.
How does it work?
The main particle is silver iodide. It forms ice crystals. In cold clouds, water droplets are supercooled. These crystals bind together. The crystals grow larger, become heavier, and fall as rain or snow.
Minimum Moisture Level
Relative Humidity (RH): It must be at least 75%. This means the air must contain 75% of the water vapor it can hold. If it's less than 50%, the seeds won't work.
Liquid Water Content (LWC): There must be at least 0.5 grams of water per cubic meter of air. This promotes rapid crystal growth.
Updraft: The wind in the cloud must flow upward at a speed of 100-200 feet per minute. This continuously brings moist air into the cloud. Without this, the moisture is lost.
Delhi Experiment: Success and Learnings
Delhi's smog had caused the AQI (Air Quality Index) to exceed 400. The government assigned cloud seeding to IIT Kanpur. Professor Agarwal said...
We didn't find much moisture in the clouds. Only around 15%. Due to the low humidity, the chances of rain were very low. We weren't successful in this regard. But we did gain valuable information. We installed 15 stations in different parts of Delhi. These measured air pollution, humidity, and other factors.
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The data showed a 6 to 10% reduction in PM2.5 and PM10. This suggests that seeding has some effect even in low-humidity clouds. Not ideal, but some effect. This is useful data for future experiments. We will conduct two more flights. We hope to get a little better humidity. Perhaps the results will be better.
Summary
The plane sprayed silver iodide. Rainfall decreased, but pollution decreased. Scientists say this is a good method of cleaning even in low humidity.
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