Ground based evaluations of an experimental cloud seeding module implemented in a high-resolution (1.8km) WRF model for wintertime orographic cloud seeding

Idaho Power runs a wintertime ororgraphic cloud seeding program to augment water supply for its hydropower system. The program consists of over 30+ ground based remote cloud-seeding generators and one aircraft. The areas seeded range from the Payette River basin in western Idaho eastward to the upper Snake River drainage including the Greys and Salt Rivers of western Wyoming. Idaho Power has contracted with the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) to develop a cloud seeding module for the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF). A field campaign will be conducted during the winters of 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 to evaluate the cloud seeding module and determine the effectiveness of wintertime orographic cloud seeding. A target/control rain gauge network has been established in the Payette River basin of Idaho; precipitation forecasts from a high resolution (1.8 km) WRF model generated at the University of Arizona will be compared to the rain gauge network in both seeded and unseeded areas.