In:
Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, American Meteorological Society, Vol. 62, No. 3 ( 2023-03), p. 317-327
Abstract:
After 38 years of operational cloud seeding for rain enhancement in northern Israel, the Israel 4 experiment was conducted to reassess its effect on rainfall and provide a basis to evaluate its utility. Operational seeding started after two randomized experiments, the second ending in 1976, found a large and statistically significant effect of cloud seeding on rainfall. Observational studies in later years raised doubts as to the magnitude of the effect, possibly because of changing climatological conditions. A carefully designed randomized experiment was conducted from 2013 to 2020. A unique feature of the design was the use of forecast rainfall on target, rather than rainfall in an unaffected area, as a control variate to attenuate variability. The Israel 4 experiment was stopped a year earlier than planned, because the result was disappointing: a 1.8% increase, p value = 0.4, and 95% confidence interval of (−11%, 16%). These results led to a decision by the Israel Water Authority to stop operational seeding. Significance Statement The recent cloud seeding experiment in northern Israel did not show a significant rainfall increase—unlike the sequence of seeding experiments conducted in Israel in the previous century.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
1558-8424
,
1558-8432
DOI:
10.1175/JAMC-D-22-0077.1
Language:
Unknown
Publisher:
American Meteorological Society
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2227779-1
detail.hit.zdb_id:
2227759-6
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