Scientists in Nevada say that they are able to use drones in order to make it rain, and they are hoping to use the technology to seed the clouds and in effect boost the surrounding precipitation.

The researchers at the Nevada Institute of Autonomous Systems, along with help from the Desert Research Institute, say that they believe that they are the first ones in the United States, and possibly the world, who have been able to use drones for cloud seeding.

The project was funded with help from the office of the Governor of Nevada.

This sort of geoengineering has been going on for many years now, it dates back to the 1940s; it is traditionally conducted with a pilot using a plane. But now researchers say that using a drone would be a much cheaper option to get the cloud seeding done.

The process of seeding the clouds, involves releasing silver iodide into the sky, in the hope that it will generate more ice particles and enhance overall precipitation in the area. The researchers say that they are looking forward to drones taking over more of this market in the future.

They have already been successful with using the drone in order to deploy the flares that contain the silver iodide, at low-altitude, with much more work that is still to be done as far as researching this area. Though they say there are a lot of regulations they must meet first, the researchers look forward to working alongside with the FAA in order to accomplish their goal. They hope to begin a successful test by at least next winter, with their cloud seeding drone operation expected to be fully operational at the start of the cloud seeding season.

At the beginning of this year, the US government called for a federally funded research investigation into the area of geoengineering. This was the first time that the executive branch formally called for an investigation/studies into this extremely controversial field.

When it comes to the inherent danger and risk associated with conducting aerial seeding operations like this, sometimes it can get dangerous and there have been a few pilots who have died. And experts in this field suggest that drones are going to be the best option to help with that because they take the place of the human pilot and therefore get rid of the risk to a human pilot being injured.

Pics:
Pixabay

Sources:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/03/01/making-it-rain-drones-could-be-future-for-cloud-seeding.html
http://www.popsci.com/cloud-seeding-drones
http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/01/us-should-pursue-controversial-geoengineering-research-federal-scientists-say-first