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Weather
JUNE 2005
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Who'll Start the Rain?
Photograph by Jay Dickman
In Kansas, clouds sometimes promise rain and fail to deliver—or produce crop-damaging hail. To coax moisture from the clouds, the Western Kansas Weather Modification Program sends out its planes. Wing-borne burners produce a silver iodide smoke, which rides updrafts into the sub-zero heart of certain storm clouds. At that altitude, the silver iodide particles provide nuclei around which cloud water can freeze. When they're heavy enough, the grains of ice fall—melting into rain on the way down. In theory, the strategy not only increases rainfall but also keeps moisture from being swept high into clouds and forming hail. "We have not been able to prove that seeding clouds increases rainfall here because we don't have enough data," says meteorologist Walter Geiger III, who manages the program. "But research elsewhere suggests this 'weather mod' system works."
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Photo Fast Facts
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Camera: Nikon F5
Film Type: Fujichrome Provia 100
Lens: 17-35mm
Speed and F-Stop: 1/60 @ f/3.5
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Weather Conditions: Turbulent skies
Time of Day: Dusk
Lighting Techniques: Available light
Special Equipment or Comments: The clouds and sun provided a beautiful sight, and I wanted to add the odd dimension of the wing pod with the burner operating.
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