Air Force mission: Make it rain
By Li Xinran |
March 29, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S Air Force has dispatched 14 more transport aircraft to create artificial rain to relieve the worst drought in decades in the country's southwestern region.
A spray device will be installed on each of the planes to handle the surging demand of artificial rain, China News Service reported yesterday.
The planes will be joining three People's Liberation Army Air Force Y-7 turboprop transport aircraft that already have taken off 13 times to serve as rainmakers for more than 200,000 square kilometers of ground below.
"The sky above Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces and Chongqing Municipality is reserving top priority for the relief job," Ding Laihang, chief of staff of Chengdu Military Area Air Force Command, told China News Service.
Artificial rainfall brought some relief to the parched Yunnan on Saturday, local authorities said.
Drizzles, moderate rain and downpours - induced by cloud seeding - helped alleviate the drought in 11 cities, prefectures and counties, including Kunming, Chuxiong and Xishuangbanna between 8am Saturday and 8am yesterday, said Ma Lianxiang, chief forecaster of the provincial meteorological bureau.
Part of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture received up to 32.9mm of precipitation, after weather authorities fired 135 cloud-seeding bombs.
"I was woken up at midnight by powerful thunder. It was to my surprise that heavy rain had arrived," Liu Yu, a native of Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna, told Xinhua news agency.
But in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, the area hit hardest by the drought, firings by 112 cloud-seeding cannons induced little rainfall on Saturday, frustrating residents.
"The rain lasted just a couple of minutes. It only added moisture to my hair. The earth quickly turned dry again," Li Mingshun, a villager in Chuxiong, told Xinhua.
Li Hongbo, director of Chuxiong's meteorological bureau, told Xinhua, "Although the rain may not contribute to increased water supply, it may at least reduce the fire risks in the forests."
A spray device will be installed on each of the planes to handle the surging demand of artificial rain, China News Service reported yesterday.
The planes will be joining three People's Liberation Army Air Force Y-7 turboprop transport aircraft that already have taken off 13 times to serve as rainmakers for more than 200,000 square kilometers of ground below.
"The sky above Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan provinces and Chongqing Municipality is reserving top priority for the relief job," Ding Laihang, chief of staff of Chengdu Military Area Air Force Command, told China News Service.
Artificial rainfall brought some relief to the parched Yunnan on Saturday, local authorities said.
Drizzles, moderate rain and downpours - induced by cloud seeding - helped alleviate the drought in 11 cities, prefectures and counties, including Kunming, Chuxiong and Xishuangbanna between 8am Saturday and 8am yesterday, said Ma Lianxiang, chief forecaster of the provincial meteorological bureau.
Part of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture received up to 32.9mm of precipitation, after weather authorities fired 135 cloud-seeding bombs.
"I was woken up at midnight by powerful thunder. It was to my surprise that heavy rain had arrived," Liu Yu, a native of Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna, told Xinhua news agency.
But in Chuxiong Yi Autonomous Prefecture, the area hit hardest by the drought, firings by 112 cloud-seeding cannons induced little rainfall on Saturday, frustrating residents.
"The rain lasted just a couple of minutes. It only added moisture to my hair. The earth quickly turned dry again," Li Mingshun, a villager in Chuxiong, told Xinhua.
Li Hongbo, director of Chuxiong's meteorological bureau, told Xinhua, "Although the rain may not contribute to increased water supply, it may at least reduce the fire risks in the forests."
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