Separation between Cloud-Seeding and Air-Pollution Effects

Abstract

Abstract Enhancement of precipitation by cloud-seeding operations has been reported in many studies around the world in the last several decades. On the other hand, suppression of rain and snow by urban and industrial air pollution recently has been documented and quantified. Here it is shown that the two effects are the opposite sides of the same coin, demonstrating the sensitivity of clouds to anthropogenic aerosols of different kinds. This is done by analyzing the rainfall amounts in northern Israel during the last 53 years and explaining the changes there as the combined opposite effects of precipitation suppression by air pollution and enhancement by glaciogenic cloud seeding. Time series based on precipitation from rain gauges were analyzed for seeded and nonseeded days and periods in the experimental control and the target areas. The response variable is Ro, the orographic enhancement factor, which is the ratio of gauge-measured rainfall in inland hilly areas (500–1000 m) to the rainfall at the upw...