From: Doug Jones (random@qnet.com)
Date: Thu Aug 10 2000 - 00:55:01 MDT
"Ross A. Finlayson" wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> I would like to ask other peoples' ideas about weather control. Can
> rain, hurricanes and lightning be organized?
>
> I think there are technical methods that could be explored to see how to
> do some of those kinds of things in terms of altering weather patterns.
>
> There are almost certainly researches about this kind of thing.
Ther was a science article in Analog around 10-15 years ago in which the
author proposed very large cooling tower-like structures to be placed in
hurricane susceptible regions. By large, read 6 km high by 1 km wide-
these would work by encouraging a single large, efficient convection
cell in place of many smaller ones, without disruption due to surface
and midaltitude winds. The updraft would improve heat transfer from the
surface to high altitude, resulting in local cooling and
dehumidification to remove the power source for hurricanes (compare to
the siphons proposed for Lake Nyos in the Cameroon to prevent another
CO2 eruption).
The condensation of water in the updraft would make it much warmer and
thus lighter than the air outside the tower, providing the power to
drive the circulation.
The updraft would be fast enough to skydive in, and wind turbines near
the base could tap off some of the power in the draft. Condensation in
the tower could be captured and lowered through hydro turbines to
generate more power- and would be a useful source of fresh water.
A strong rain cloud would pour out the top, producing continuous rain in
the region downwind of the tower. The environmental impact statement
would be prodigious...
-- Doug Jones Rocket Plumber, XCOR Aerospace http://www.xcor-aerospace.com
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