Cloud seeding technology indigenized in Iran

Head of Iran's Department of Environment Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh announced that the country has managed to indigenize the technology of cloud seeding to increase showers and end static air conditions and inversion. "The method of cloud seeding is used to solve the problem of air inversion and static conditions in case there is any cloud in the sky," Mohammadizadeh said on Saturday, explaining the importance of Iran's access to the technology. He continued saying that Iran is seeking to acquire the knowledge and technical know-how to also use other methods than cloud seeding in a bid to solve the problem of its static air conditions, including changing the static conditions in the lower layers of the atmosphere and fanning the air. "And we plan to acquire this technical know-how this year," Mohammadizadeh added. Cloud seeding, a form of intentional weather modification, is the attempt to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud. The usual intent is to increase precipitation (rain or snow), but hail and fog suppression are also widely practiced in airports. The most common chemicals used for cloud seeding include silver iodide and dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide) rather than salt. Liquid propane, which expands into a gas, has also been used. This can produce ice crystals at higher temperatures than silver iodide. The use of hygroscopic materials, such as salt, is becoming more popular after promising research. Cloud seeding can be done by ground generators, plane, or rocket.