MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...

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MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
MAKE IT RAIN:
THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING
        THE WEATHER

      DARREL BAUMGARDNER
MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
M A K E IT R A IN :
   TH E SC IE N C E
   BE H IN D A LT ER IN G
   TH E W EATH ER
                                                   TROL OVER THE NATU RAL WOR LD,
    WHE NEVE R HUM ANKI ND BELIE VES IT HAS CON
                                              STOR MS, FLOO DS AND DRO UGH TS ARE
    THE WEA THER LIKE S TO PROV E US WRO NG.
                                                 CAN COM PLIC ATE OR EVEN THRE ATEN
    JUST SOM E OF THE WEA THER PATT ERNS THAT
                                                ISTIC ATED TECH NIQU ES FOR WEA THER
    HUM AN LIFE. WE HAVE INCR EASI NGLY SOPH
                                                  KING EVEN FURT HER: TOW ARDS
    FORE CAST ING, BUT NOW SCIE NTIS TS ARE LOO
                                                DARR EL BAUM GARD NER, OF THE
    DIRE CTLY MOD IFYIN G THE WEA THER ITSEL F.
                                                   ICO AND DRO PLET MEA SURE MEN T
    NATI ONA L AUTO NOM OUS UNIV ERSI T Y OF MEX
                                                NG TECH NIQU E OF CLOU D SEED ING
    TECH NOLO GIES , RESE ARCH ES THE INTR IGUI

TALK LIKE AN ATMOSPHERIC SCIENTIST                                  GEOENGINEERING – deliberate, large-scale intervention in the
                                                                    Earth’s climate system, usually to mitigate climate change.
CLIMATE – the general weather conditions over a long
period.                                                             ICE NUCLEI (IN) – similar to CCN, particles in the atmosphere
                                                                    that ice crystals form around.
CLOUD CONDENSATION NUCLEI (CCN) – small particles
around which water vapour condenses and ultimately forms clouds.    PRECIPITATION – water that falls from clouds to the ground,
                                                                    such as rain, hail, snow or sleet.
CLOUD SEEDING – intentionally adding CCN to the
atmosphere to change precipitation patterns.                        SPECTROMETER – an instrument that measures spectral
                                                                    properties, such as the reflective properties of cloud particles.
DISDROMETER – a ground-based instrument to measure
precipitation properties.                                           WEATHER – the state of the atmosphere of a particular area at a
                                                                    particular time.

Rain, or the lack of it, can cause problems.    of investigating clouds, not only how they         vapour in the atmosphere condenses into
Too little rain can lead to droughts, which     form but also how humans can influence             clouds, but this process can only occur
carries risks of crop failure and scarcity of   their formation. As well as working                with the presence of cloud condensation
drinking water. Too much rain can cause         within academia, he is the founder and             nuclei (CCN). These are essentially small
flooding and other forms of precipitation,      Chief Scientist at Droplet Measurement             particles of any number of substances, such
such as hail, can cause physical damage to      Technologies, which provides scientific            as dust, soot or salt. To transition from a gas
crops and property. Being able to influence     instruments and expertise to researchers           to a liquid, water molecules have to have
when, where and how much rain falls could       investigating aspects of cloud formation.          something to cling onto, and CCN fulfil
help prevent these negative effects.                                                               this function. Ice nuclei (IN) are the CCN
                                                WHAT IS CLOUD SEEDING?                             equivalent for the formation of ice crystals in
Darrel Baumgardner has made a career            A key step in the water cycle is when water        the atmosphere.
MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
DARREL BAUMGARDNER
                                                                                                           National Autonomous University of
                                                                                                          Mexico and Chief Scientist at Droplet
                                                                                                          Measurement Technologies, Longmont,
                                                                                                                     Colorado, USA

                                                                                                                FIELD OF RESEARCH
Cloud seeding is a human-made technique that        how they will respond to seeding, there are                     Atmospheric Science
adds extra CCN or IN into the atmosphere,           many factors to take into account, and at
which can either enhance or suppress                many different scales. For instance, the
precipitation, depending on how, when and           nucleation of cloud droplets around a CCN
                                                                                                                RESEARCH PROJECT
where it’s done. This technique was famously        happens at the microscopic level and in a
used to keep the 2008 Beijing Olympics dry:         matter of milliseconds, whereas the time to                Investigating how clouds form,
rockets containing silver iodide particles (a       grow to visible raindrops (and eventually entire             and how we can influence
type of IN) were fired into the atmosphere,         clouds) can take minutes to hours. When this                       their formation.
intercepting incoming rainclouds and triggering     is expanded to include the interconnected
premature showers before they could reach           cloud formation over entire regions, it gets
the capital.                                        complicated very fast.

HOW CAN YOU MEASURE SUCH A                          However, this complexity is not
COMPLEX SYSTEM?                                     insurmountable. “Modern computers have
Atmospheric science is very complex, and            provided cloud modellers with the tools needed
scientists simply don’t have all the information    to create such models,” says Darrel. Model
required to guarantee that cloud seeding will       inputs include temperature, pressure, relative     news for coral reefs and other underwater
have the intended effect. In some instances,        humidity, CCN and IN specific to a certain         ecosystems. One project is looking into
cloud seeding can even lead to the opposite         time and area, and then different seeding          seeding stratus clouds over the Great Barrier
effect to that intended. There is also a certain    scenarios are run to see how they affect cloud     Reef, which would deflect sunlight away from
lack of control. “Once the seeding material         properties. As with any model, it remains a        the sea’s surface and mitigate warming in that
is released, there is nothing more that can be      simplified representation of the real world, so    area. In theory, this practice could be carried
done,” says Darrel.                                 results aren’t perfect, but are getting more       out worldwide.
                                                    precise all the time.
Measuring cloud properties, and how they                                                               However, given the complex nature of
react to different conditions, is essential.        THE BIGGER PICTURE                                 atmospheric science, geoengineering efforts
“There are two general types of instruments         Cloud seeding could help mitigate against          on a global scale pose many challenges for
used to measure cloud properties,” says             droughts, floods and even air pollution, but       scientists. For example, stimulating rainfall
Darrel. The first are called disdrometers, and      there are, perhaps, even bigger and more long-     to alleviate drought in one area could lead to
measure precipitation at the ground, including      term applications. Geoengineering is the name      extreme monsoons in another. Experts in this
variables such as drop size, velocity and type of   given to techniques that aim not just to alter     field are mindful that they need to consider
precipitation. The second type measures the         the weather but also the climate, to attempt       the intricacies of the bigger picture. As Darrel
properties of clouds themselves and are called      to counteract the effects of climate change.       explains, with processes such as cloud seeding,
spectrometers. By fixing a spectrometer to an       When carried out at a global scale, cloud          there is always the, “Goldilocks conundrum”
aircraft or drone and flying it through a cloud,    seeding and similar techniques are the most        and the challenge is in getting things ‘just
scientists can record cloud water content           significant of these proposed measures.            right’. He adds, “As atmospheric scientists, we
and a number of other variables. Similar                                                               know that climate change is real.” Scientists
measurements can also be taken from a great         “Geoengineering has the potential to offset        like Darrel can make a huge difference to our
distance, using radar or even satellites.           the negative impacts of climate change,” says      world – will you be one of them?
                                                    Darrel. For instance, one effect of climate
HOW CAN SCIENTISTS MODEL CLOUD                      change is the absorption of the sun’s heat by
PROPERTIES?                                         the oceans, which raises marine temperatures
When it comes to modelling clouds to predict        and can lead to ocean acidification – bad
MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
AB O UT AT M OSP HE RI C SC IE NC E
WHAT IS ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE?                        instruments,” says Darrel. “We can also run         know that climate change is real and is the
Atmospheric science studies the layers of gas       computers hundreds of times more powerful           greatest danger that the world faces today,”
that surround the planet, specifically their        than just a few decades ago.” These huge            says Darrel. Not only does atmospheric
chemistry and their dynamics. This includes         advancements mean that understanding of             science provide us with much of the data
interactions within the atmosphere, and             atmospheric science is accelerating. “We            about climate change – its predicted evolution
between the atmosphere and other entities,          know so much more about how clouds evolve           and effects –, it also suggests ways we could
such as the ocean or human activity.                than we did 50 years ago, but we still have a       protect ourselves against it.
                                                    long way to go before we can truly ‘control’
Our atmosphere is the relatively thin barrier       weather,” says Darrel.                              Atmospheric science has a huge amount to
that separates the Earth’s surface from space.                                                          teach us about the present and the future of
“Although the atmosphere makes up a small           WHAT ARE THE REAL-WORLD                             our planet, and a career in it could have far-
fraction of the Earth’s volume, it is critical to   APPLICATIONS OF ATMOSPHERIC                         reaching positive impacts for society.
life, not only for the oxygen we need but also      SCIENCE?
for the hydrological cycle.” The science that       Weather forecasting, although it might seem
attempts to explain it is complex and detailed,     a rather bland aspect of everyday life, has the
but has come on in leaps and bounds in recent       potential to save countless lives. Forecasting
decades.                                            tropical storms, tornados or hurricanes,
                                                    for instance, can help people prepare and
HOW HAS THE FIELD CHANGED OVER                      safeguard themselves and their livelihoods.
THE YEARS?
“We are now able to make faster and more            Atmospheric science also underpins much                Seeding material is dispensed by burning flares like
accurate measurements with much smaller             of what we know about climate change. “We              those seen attached to the trailing edge of the wing
                                                                                                                         of this seeding aircraft.

    How to become an atmospheric scientist

    • According to NASA, a career in atmospheric science could begin with an undergraduate degree in meteorology, physics, chemistry,
      geography, mathematics, engineering or computer science.

    • The Royal Meteorological Society has a list of UK universities that offer qualifications related to atmospheric science:
      https://www.rmets.org/courses

    • According to College Factual, the top three universities in the USA for studying atmospheric science and meteorology are: Texas A&M
      University – College Station; University of California – Los Angeles; and University of Oklahoma Norman Campus

    • Darrel highlights the University of Washington, the University of Wyoming, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Colorado
      State University and North Carolina State University as establishments to consider.

    • According to Career Explorer, the average salary for an atmospheric scientist in the USA is about $94k.
MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
HOW DI D DA RR EL
  BAUM GA RD NE R BE CO ME AN
  AT MOSP HE RI C SC IEN TIST?
WHAT WERE YOUR INTERESTS AS A                    WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF                       give classes in cloud and aerosol physics,
CHILD?                                           FROM YOUR CAREER?                                as well as teaching measurement and data
I was always curious as a child. I had my        I have been a university professor for           analysis techniques.
own chemistry set, Meccano, and lots of          fourteen years and a research scientist for
other educational toys that were available       forty. I also have a patented design: the        WHAT’S NEXT?
at that time. I enjoyed exploding things,        Backscatter Cloudprobe with Polarisation         I have too many goals to name! I hope to
taking things apart and putting them back        Detection. I have won an award for being         improve techniques for measuring cloud ice
together again. For a time, I was interested     the most cited Latin American scientist,         crystal properties, and to develop a better
in becoming a writer, but decided to             with over 200 high-impact publications. I        method for identifying pollen particles in
become a physicist at high school.               also founded my own tech company that            real time.
                                                 does atmospheric research, which is still
DID YOUR TEACHERS INFLUENCE                      going strong after thirty years!
YOUR DECISIONS?
I was lucky to have several inspirational        HOW DO YOUR ROLES IN                                   Darrel’s TOP TIPS
teachers. My math teachers and my senior         ACADEMIA AND INDUSTRY                                   FOR STUDENTS
year physics teacher energised me with           COMPLEMENT EACH OTHER?
their enthusiasm for their subjects. A skilled   Many of my company’s clients are
teacher is driven by their curiosity and is      academics, and I interact with them and                 01 – Follow your instincts, and
                                                                                                        don’t doubt yourself. Once you
someone who students want to emulate.            their students. I often visit universities and
                                                                                                        have made a decision, don’t look
                                                                                                        backwards or regret your choice.

                                                                                                       02 – Attributes such as curiosity,
         Pathway from school to atmospheric science                                                      problem solving, creativity and
                                                                                                        exploring my own wild ideas have
                                                                                                       hugely helped my scientific career.
                                  Darrel recommends taking:
                                                                                                       03 – Let your creativity grow and
                                                                                                        don’t limit yourself. Being able
            MATHS                       CHEMISTRY                          PHYSICS                     to write well is essential, so read
                                                                                                       widely: history, literature, fiction,
                                                                                                      non-fiction. Music can also provide
                                                                                                            a great creative outlet.

                               ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

            Other subjects such as geography and computer science could also be
                                        very useful.
MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
AT M OSP H ER IC SC IE N C E W IT H
   DA RR EL BAU M GA RD N ER
  TALKING POINTS

1. What are cloud condensation nuclei?                                        5. Why is computer modelling important for Darrel’s work?

2. What is cloud seeding?                                                     6. What is geoengineering?

3. How could cloud seeding help:                                             7. What has enabled atmospheric science to become more
   a) farmers; b) riverside communities; c) sporting events?                     sophisticated?

4. What are the two broad ways of measuring cloud properties?                 8. What are some ways that atmospheric science can help people?

ACTIVITIES FOR HOME OR IN THE CLASSROOM

ACTIVITY 1                                                                             FURTHER RESOURCES
Although cloud seeding is nowadays understood better than ever, the basic
theory has been applied in various forms for many years.
                                                                                      • NASA’s Earth Observatory has a collection of stunning and
Look up examples of cloud seeding online and answer the following                       frequently updated satellite images and sequences, including of
questions. Remember to check the authenticity of the information you                    atmospheric phenomena: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images
find.
                                                                                      • MetLink has a wealth of resources for schools and students. As well
• How has cloud seeding benefited vulnerable people?                                    as lesson plans, case studies and so on, they also have a scheme
• How has cloud seeding benefited wealthy people?                                       that lets UK schools borrow weather instruments. Find out more:
• How has cloud seeding benefited the environment?                                      https://www.metlink.org/
• Has cloud seeding ever had unexpected (or unwelcome) results?
• What regulations are in place for cloud seeding?                                    • The Met Office also has many resources on meteorology and
                                                                                        atmospheric science, including bite-size activity packs: https://
                                                                                        www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/learn-about/met-office-for-
                                                                                        schools/resources-for-11-14

ACTIVITY 2
Geoengineering is a complex subject for many reasons. As well as cloud seeding, other geoengineering techniques include iron fertilisation of the oceans, or
even installing ‘sun shields’ in space.

Using the article and online information, create a detailed mind-map for geoengineering. Things to think about include:

• Practicality
• Regulation and control
• Effectiveness
• Long-term effects
• Accuracy of predictions
• Knock-on effects on society
• Alternative solutions

Once you have finished your mind-map, write a paragraph on whether or not you think geoengineering is a credible solution for climate change, and why.
MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
Darrel Baumgardner, studying clouds in the Swiss mountains above the city of Davos.

These are cloud spectrometers: the Droplet Measurement Technologies’ Precipitation Imaging Probe and the
                      Combination Cloud Probe used for measuring cloud properties.
MAKE IT RAIN: THE SCIENCE BEHIND ALTERING THE WEATHER - DARREL BAUMGARDNER - Droplet ...
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