IITM ready with guidelines for cloud seeding programme

After three years of data collection and observation, scientists at the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune are ready with guidelines for cloud seeding programme or the Cloud Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment (CAIPEX) programme in the country. Twenty-five scientists worked for three years from 2009 for the scientific study of enhancement of rainfall in the country for which the Ministry of Earth Science allocated Rs 50 crore.

"We have enough data after three years of aircraft observations of aerosols, cloud parameter study during monsoon, 650 hours of flying and ground observation and about 28 cases. We have analysed the data and studied the rainfall process of the aerosols which affect the rainfall process and readied about 15 papers which have been published in international journals,'' said Dr J V Kulkarni, chief scientist of physics and dynamics of tropical clouds and head of the CAIPEX programme.

Having made available this data for the scientific community in the country, he said that research are still being carried out and guidelines are to be readied by March 2013.

With most parts of the country in the rain shadow regions, he said the guidelines will help carry out the process in a better manner. The IITM recently gave its expert advise to BMC and other states too are trying to carry out the process. "IITM scientists will be able to assist the governments of various states towards the process,'' said IITM scientists.

BMC decided not to take up cloud seeding after an expert advise from IITM that they were too late to start the process. "We had asked them to start the process during monsoon but by the time they took the permissions it got late and we asked them to drop it as it would not help in later months. We had agreed to offer technical advise but they had to make the arrangements,'' said the scientists. But BMC officials cancelled the project as later there was good rainfall.

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