Laser aims to make rain fall on demand

Subject: Laser aims to make rain fall on demand Thu Sep 01, 2011 4:23 am

Ever since ancient farmers called on the gods to send rain to save their harvests, humans have longed to have the weather at their command.

That dream has now received a boost after researchers used a powerful laser to produce water droplets in the air, a step that could ultimately help trigger rainfall.

Laser aims to make rain fall on demand Weather-420x0

Laser aims to make rain fall on demand Weather-420x0

While nothing can produce a downpour from dry air, the technique, called laser-assisted water condensation, might allow some control over where and when rain falls if the atmosphere is sufficiently humid.

Researchers demonstrated the technique in field tests after hauling a mobile laser laboratory the size of a small garage to the banks of the Rhone near Lake Geneva in Switzerland.

Records from 133 hours of firings revealed that intense pulses of laser light created nitric acid particles in the air that behaved like atmospheric glue, binding water molecules together into droplets and preventing them from re-evaporating.

http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/laser-aims-to-make-rain-fall-on-demand-20110901-1jmwx.html

Laser aims to make rain fall on demand

Laser aims to make rain fall on demand

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