Evaluation of the seeded stratocumulus by aircraft by the application of CINRAD

Weather modification have been taken around the world for over 60 years. However, some critical problems remained unsolved , one of which was the seeding effect because of the large variations of the natural cloud. This paper provides a physical method to evaluate the artificial operations by aircraft by the use of Chinese Next Generation Radar (CINRAD) and GPS. Spots along the seeding tracks were located precisely and the radar scan of multiple layers can reflect the cloud evolution at the specific altitude and temperature that concerned. Two cases studies for weather modification to stratocumulus by aircraft were conducted and showed that after seeding, reflectivity over the seeding spots enhanced significantly, both in the cold layer ( colder than 0°C) and the warm layer (warmer than 0°C), due to the microphysical changing in the cloud caused by AgI seeding, and what's more, reflectivity over the cold layer would get more quickly to the maximum than that over the warm layer, which to some extent, demonstrated the artificial effect .