Formation of a Rain Shower by Salt Seeding

Abstract

Salt seeding took place below one end of a line of stratocumulus clouds with 350 lb of NaCl released. Cloud base was 9000 ft and cloud tops were at 15 to 18,000 ft above sea level. Cloud top temperature was near -2C and updraft speeds below the base were near 3 m sec-l. The resulting shower was monitored by radar with the total rainfall being estimated at 280 acre feet. No rain fell from the unseeded portion of the cloud line or from any other clouds within 50 mi.