Artificial Rain

Why in News?

• Recently Uttarakhand High Court had asked the State government to find out the possibility of using artificial rain to douse forest fires raging in various parts of the State. 

What is an Artificial Rain?

• It’s a practice of artificially inducing or increasing precipitation through clouds by adding external agents.

What are the chemicals used in artificial rain?

• Dry Ice (solid carbon dioxide), Silver Iodide, Salt powder, Liquid propane etc.
• The process of spraying chemicals is known as Cloud Seeding and is done by aeroplane or rockets.

What other applications does artificial rain has?

• Apart from increasing precipitation (rain or snow), artificial rain is also used for suppression of hail and fog and is widely practiced in airports where harsh weather conditions are experienced.

Prelims Question

Consider the following statements regarding Artificial rain:
1.It can be used for suppression of fog.
2.Silver iodide can be used for inducing artificial rain.
Choose the correct statements from the codes given below:
(a)1 only
(b)2 only
(c)Both 1 and 2
(d)Neither 1 nor 2

Answer to the Prelims Question