Scientists have concluded in their latest experiment that they can achieve rain by electrically charging the clouds and by changing the size of the drops.
According to Giles Harrison, lead researcher of the study and professor of atmospheric physics at the University of Reading, the electrical charge slows down the evaporation and causes the droplets to explode. This is because the electric force applied to the droplets overcomes the surface tension that holds the droplets together. Scientists have concluded in their latest experiment that they can achieve rain by electrically charging the clouds and by changing the size of the drops.
Harrison and his team believe that the electric charge in the clouds causes the droplets to stick together, and the heavier they are, the more likely they are to collide. With the help of a drone, scientists injected positive and negative charge into the cloud and concluded that with the release of positive and negative charge, more water drops are created in the fog.
This test helps to see rain in dry areas such as North Africa and the Middle East and areas that are involved in drought.
They use silver iodide compound (AgI) to fertilize the clouds. This combination causes the growth of ice crystals and the formation of rain and does not have a destructive effect on living organisms and the environment.
Cloud fertilization was done for the first time in 1946. But this method leads to the formation of more natural rain.
