North American Weather Consultants Inc. services
Weather Modification Services
Snowfall and Rainfall Augmentation
North American Weather Consultants has conducted more than 200 weather modification projects involving snowfall or rainfall augmentation world-wide since 1950. These programs have been designed to increase the naturally occurring rainfall or snowfall in a selected target area by utilizing cloud seeding agents to increase the efficiency of the natural precipitation process. The most common seeding agent is microscopic sized particles of silver iodide. These silver iodide particles are dispersed either from the ground or aircraft. We also have experience using less common seeding materials for specialized applications. Typical precipitation increases from the programs range from 10 to 15 percent (in wintertime cold climate areas) to 20 to 25 percent (in more maritime tropical regions) over what would have occurred naturally. Users of this technology range from irrigation districts, municipalities, hydroelectric facilities and recreational areas (ski areas).Fog Seeding/Fog Dissipation
There are two primary fog types: warm and cold fog. These fog types are differentiated by temperature, with warm fog occurring at 32°F (0°C)or above, and cold fog at temperatures below 32°F (0°C). Both types are composed of water droplets. Warm fog is the more common of the two in most parts of the world, is microphysically stable and difficult to modify. Cold fog, on the other hand, is microphysically unstable and can be modified much more readily via fog seeding. Water droplets in these fogs can be frozen by the introduction of a heterogeneous seeding agent such as silver iodide or homogeneous agents such as dry ice (solid carbon dioxide) or liquefied propane.
Feasibility/Design/Evaluation Studies
North American Weather Consultants not only conducts operational cloud seeding programs, but has also been intimately involved in numerous research oriented cloud seeding programs since the mid-1950"s. This combined operational and research experience allows us to assess the feasibility of conducting a cloud seeding program for snowfall or rainfall augmentation in a given area, design an effective program and evaluation method if a program appears to be feasible, and evaluate the effectiveness of cloud seeding programs.