Numerical experiments of cloud seeding for mitigating localization of heavy rainfall: a case study of Mesoscale Convective System in Japan

Abstract

This study investigated the potential of cloud seeding to mitigate extreme rainfall localization (i.e., overseeding) associated with mesoscale convective systems in Japan. Using a numerical weather prediction model, we conducted cloud seeding experiments by artificially increasing ice nuclei concentrations in a double-moment microphysics scheme for the heavy rainfall event in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan, in August 2014. We examined the sensitivity of rainfall changes to altitude and area of the seeding. The results showed that seeding in the mid–upper troposphere (7.2–8.6 km), where air temperature ranged from -22 to -12 °C, resulted in the most pronounced changes in rainfall amount. At these levels, high supercooled cloud water content and strong updrafts favoured heterogeneous freezing, resulting in a depletion of moisture and suppression of graupel growth. The cloud seeding led to reduced rainfall within the heavy rainfall region and increased rainfall downwind, demonstrating the hypothesized dispersal mechanism of “overseeding”. Expanding the seeding to cover the upstream region of the heavy rainfall area had a greater impact than increasing vertical thickness of the seeding. The most effective seeding configuration (24 km × 24 km area at 7.2 km) achieved an 11.5 % decrease in area-averaged 3-h accumulated rainfall and a maximum reduction of 32 % in 3-h accumulated rainfall over the heavy rainfall region. Future work should consider more realistic representations of seeding substance (i.e., transport, dispersion, and interactions) and explore a wider range of rainfall events to generalize the applicability of this approach.