Rainmaking operations succeed in bringing water to Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams

[webfact]

Rainmaking operations succeed in bringing water to Bhumibol and Sirikit Dams



CHIANG MAI, 15 July 2015 (NNT) - The Director of the Northern Royal Rainmaking Operation Center, Miss Nuengruethai Tantiplubthong has announced that 86 per cent of the 800 rainmaking flights during the last three months were conducted successfully. The operations were launched on 125 days, 90% of which had successfully brought artificial rain to Bhumibol Dam and Sirikit Dam.

According to the director, this year the rainmaking operations faced greater obstacles because of the changing environmental conditions which nurture cloud seeding.

This year, the temperature in the region has increased by an average of one degree Celsius while relative humidity had also declined, resulting in less rainfall. Moreover, daylight hours are longer than usual. On some days the sun set after 7.30 p.m.

This has prompted the five rainmaking centers in the northern region to delay their flights to evening time which usually provides more suitable relative humidity -- the main factor needed for successful artificial rainmaking.

The Director of the Northern Royal Rainmaking Operation Center has called for economical use of water, and promotion of environmental conservation. She advised farmers to follow the New Theory Farming technique conceived by His Majesty the King as part of his philosophy of a sufficiency economy to help the country overcome the water crisis.


-- NNT 2015-07-15

[Crossy]

Moreover, daylight hours are longer than usual. On some days the sun set after 7.30 p.m.

So something has changed in the earth's rotation or orbit?

[MB1]

Moreover, daylight hours are longer than usual. On some days the sun set after 7.30 p.m.

So something has changed in the earth's rotation or orbit?

Maybe the Thai's have used the fake bomb detectors and turned them into rain making machines and are getting use out of them after all....

[rametindallas]

That looks like a very old photo of the dam when it had water. There is not reporting on how much more water came to the dams; usually they tell us to the nearest 100 cubic meters. Oh, well, any rain is better than no rain so it's good, if inadequate, news.

.

[cooked]

It's a bummer when the sun decides to set at different times according to whim., and setting an hour later than it is supposed to do at the summer solstice is just plain selfish. The efficacy of artificial rain making is 'disputed' to say the least. Remarks like this from the director of a supposedly scientific establishment don't exactly fill me with admiration.

[apetley]

Moreover, daylight hours are longer than usual. On some days the sun set after 7.30 p.m.

So something has changed in the earth's rotation or orbit?

Yes, but only for Thailand.

[canuckamuck]

It is quite impressive that they have managed to make rain come at the heart of rainy season.

It's too bad they waited so long to bring the rain though.

[arthurboy]

Water management in Thailand is a farce. Despite the many experts working for a variety of organizations, the country and its people face pretty much the same problems every year.

Why? It's not that there's not enough budget and expertise to get this sorted out, now, is there...?

[smedly]

the rain making is working so we all still have jobs and high salaries - this stuff is no better than doing a rain dance, it is total nonsense

This money would be better spent on paying fuel for water trucks and transferring water from where it is plentiful for the farmers to use or more drilling

[slerickson]

the rain making is working so we all still have jobs and high salaries - this stuff is no better than doing a rain dance, it is total nonsense

This money would be better spent on paying fuel for water trucks and transferring water from where it is plentiful for the farmers to use or more drilling

Over Thai roads? You're joking right?

[steven100]

Can anyone tell me is there scientific proof that this rain making process that the Thais apply does in fact work ??

what additive are they releasing to make it rain ? and how does it work ?

[sawadee1947]

as I said before.............in LOS everything is possible....with special blessings and a lot of superstition

[ddavidovsky]

Sustainable growth shouldn't require artificial rain (assuming it works). Just another example of the world living beyond its means.

[Thunder26]

I don't believe in the efficacy of rainmaking. I think the areas got the supposed rainfall because it's the time to rain. We are in the rainy season period and by the end of October most dams will be fully filled with water. I agree that this year is unusually hot and this causes faster evaporation which worsens the drought in some areas.

[Thunder26]

So far it rained only 250.9 mm of rain over Bhumibol Dam this year.

http://tmd.go.th/programs/uploads/ReportsGenMetnet/Daily/DailyObserved7AM-en.pdf

So I don't see how the rainmaking worked. It seems like it rained more more up the river then over Bhumibol dam.

[whimsy]

Not only longer days, but there were over 125 days in the last three months.

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Sustainable growth shouldn't require artificial rain (assuming it works). Just another example of the world living beyond its means.

OR idiots managing the water resources ?

[bamukloy]

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cloud_seeding

this website has details but im afraid the info might not go down well as Thailand does not get even one mention as far as who came up with the idea.

I remember reading reports that the technology, when used, often has the effect of taking rain away from areas nearby, so maybe not the godsend it seems in some cases.

[Srikcir]

Is rain color coded so we know which rainfall is natural and which is the result of seeding?

I'm thinking Purple Rain from the royal artificial rain-making efforts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNfWxKr3CDM

[JohnThailandJohn]

The days are currently at their longest cycle in Chaing Mai with the sun setting after 7 PM ... about two hours more of daylight than other parts of the year.

Cloud seeding is used across the globe ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding#Uses_worldwide

[JohnThailandJohn]

Can anyone tell me is there scientific proof that this rain making process that the Thais apply does in fact work ??

what additive are they releasing to make it rain ? and how does it work ?

http://www.physics.org/article-questions.asp?id=98

https://data.epo.org/publication-server/rest/v1.0/publication-dates/20051012/patents/EP1491088NWB1/document.pdf

https://www2.ucar.edu/news/weather-modification-and-cloud-seeding-fact-sheet

[steven100]

Even in dry areas the air usually contains some water. This can be made to come together and form ice crystals by seeding the atmosphere with chemicals such as silver iodide or dry ice.

They work to promote rainfall by inducing nucleation – what little water is in the air condenses around the newly introduced particles and crystallises to form ice.

The ‘seeds’ can be delivered by plane or simply by spraying from the ground.

But does it work?

It’s hard to tell for sure. As is often the case with weather and climate, it’s impossible to carry out a controlled experiment – so, in areas of increased precipitation, we can’t know whether it would still have rained even if the clouds hadn’t been seeded.

Success has been claimed for trials in Australia, France, Spain and the US. In the United Arab Emirates, the technique is credited with the creation of 52 storms in the Abu Dhabi desert, while China boasts of having used the technology in reverse to keep the Beijing Olympic Games of 2008 dry.

Recent research, however, suggests that it’s not as effective as was previously believed.

[Ulic]

So it's all good, no need to listen to the Generals speech to save water.

[halloween]

If the rainmaking brought water to those dams, it certainly wasn't as much as was flowing out. The level curves are going one way only, and it ain't up.

http://www.thaiwater.net/DATA/REPORT/php/rid_dam_1.php?lang=en

[apetley]

According to this website the sun never sets later than 19.05 in CM.

http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/thailand/chiang-mai?month=7&year=2015

[mikebell]

'what additive are they releasing to make it rain?' -- H2O.

'and how does it work?' Gravity.

[billd766]

I don't believe in the efficacy of rainmaking. I think the areas got the supposed rainfall because it's the time to rain. We are in the rainy season period and by the end of October most dams will be fully filled with water. I agree that this year is unusually hot and this causes faster evaporation which worsens the drought in some areas.

The 4 main dams will take at least 2 years and probably 3 to be refilled to capacity. As soon as (if/when) the rainy season starts every farmer in the country will be taking as much water as possible out from the klongs and rivers to pump on their land.

All the wells and boreholes will be slowly refilling, soaking up more of the rainfall, the land will start to absorb the water until it is soaked and THEN perhaps the dams will start to fill.

IMHO Thailand needs at least twice as much rain as came in 2011 for a couple of years to get the dams back to a reasonable working level.

Also I feel that next year will be a worse drought than this year and hopefully with a bit of luck the politicians will leave the dam and irrigation stuff in the hands of the people who DO know what they are doing. There ARE many of them but at the lower levels and there is too much politicking involved at the higher levels.

[billd766]

So far it rained only 250.9 mm of rain over Bhumibol Dam this year.

http://tmd.go.th/programs/uploads/ReportsGenMetnet/Daily/DailyObserved7AM-en.pdf

So I don't see how the rainmaking worked. It seems like it rained more more up the river then over Bhumibol dam.

But the water up the Ping river above the Bhumibol dam also feeds the dam and that is a far bigger catchment area. The rainfall over the dam is only an indication of that locality.

You need to look at the rainfall further north along the Ping river and its tributaries to get a better view of how much water is getting into the dam and how much is being allowed out to know if the dam is draining out, maintaining its current level or filling up.