Quantifying snowfall from orographic cloud seeding
Katja Friedrich, Kyoko Ikeda, Sarah A. Tessendorf, Jeffrey R. French, Robert M. Rauber, Bart Geerts, Lulin Xue, Roy Rasmussen, Derek R. Blestrud, Melvin L. Kunkel, Nicholas Dawson, Shaun Parkinson
Abstract
Significance Cloud seeding to increase winter snowpack in mountains has traditionally been evaluated using precipitation gauges and target/control statistics leading mostly to inconclusive results. Here, an approach employing radar and gauges is used to quantify snowfall by first isolating radar returns that are unambiguously the result of cloud seeding in regions with light or no natural precipitation and then quantifying the seeding-induced precipitation at the ground. The spatiotemporal evolution of snowfall from cloud seeding is quantified. Although this study focuses only on three cases, the results are a fundamental step toward understanding cloud seeding efficacy that, for over half a century, has been an unanswered question for water managers wishing to utilize the technology for water resource management.