Applying electricity to clouds could be a way to control rainfall, according to a new study led by the University of Reading. The authors propose to electrify water droplets suspended in the atmosphere with a drone to form drops large enough for rain.
Clouds are formed by water vapor, with numerous droplets suspended in the air, but it only rains when these drops reach a specific size and weight. Naturally, droplets with opposite charges stick together and become heavier. The new study, however, argues that these characteristics are not always necessary to form the drops. The charge of the droplets can be the same, as long as one of them has a greater charge than the other for them to stick together.
According to the authors, the loads start to migrate to each other. “Which leads to an attractive force that can dominate if the drops are close to each other,” they add.
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Also, the amount of charge in a droplet can change as it receives ions from a nearby electric field. Using the electric field only makes the drops rain-prone by 5%, but the authors say that’s enough to stimulate precipitation.
rain drones
In 2021, the team piloted “rain drones” at a site near Dubai to test whether they would be able to “attract” rain by releasing positive and negative ions into the local clouds.
The technology is based on cloud seeding, an experiment dating back to the 1950s. The researchers believe the new drone, by adding electricity, will provide a mixed result from all previous attempts. Previously, the same team had suggested using rain towers over 10 meters high. This would be a more permanent way to encourage precipitation.
It is worth noting that, since 2017, the research has been funded by the United Arab Emirates, an extremely dry region that fears climate projections that predict water scarcity in some parts of the world by the end of this century.
The research was presented in Proceedings on the Royal Society A.
