The success of artificial rain generation has attracted worldwide attention and led to requests for knowledge exchange from several Asian countries
Water shortage is one of the most critical global problems of today. The United Nations estimates that more than 40 percent of the world’s population lives with or in conditions of water shortage. In Thailand, agriculture covers almost 70 percent of total land use, and a high-water supply is required to sustain it. As a consequence, there are sporadic dry periods throughout the country. In combination with decades of massive deforestation, the lack of rainfall increases the droughts, especially during the dry season. Over 82% of Thailand’s agricultural land is dependent on rainfall; thus Thai farmers face difficulties growing crops due to the lack of water.
In 1955, when then beloved Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej realized that many regions were struggling with the problem of drought, he initiated the Royal Regeneration Project of Thailand. The “Rain Generation Project” is a proposed solution to counter the lack of rainfall by using artificial rain generation or cloud seeding. According to the Desert Research Institute, Cloud seeding is a type of weather modification that aims to change the amount or type of precipitation that falls from clouds, by dispersing substances into the air that serve as cloud condensation or ice nuclei, which alter the microphysical processes within the cloud.
The Royal Rainfall Generation Project was first launched in Khao Yai National Park on 20 July 1969 at the King’s behest. Dry ice flakes were scattered over clouds, and there were reports of some rainfall. Following the launch, in 1971 the government set up the research and development project for artificial rain generation within the Thai Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives.
Since the introduction of the technology, the invention has gone through a series of changes which have enabled the transfer of technological expertise. It also stimulated cooperation between different regional and international actors with the common goal of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the artificial rainmaking process. To “make it rain”, the following steps are applied: “agitation” to activate cloud formation by using weather modification techniques; “fattening” to activate the accumulation of cloud droplets and finally “attacking” to trigger rain from the cloud.
The Royal Rainfall Generation Project has attracted worldwide attention and let to requests for knowledge exchange from several Asian countries. Interest was also shown from the Middle East, where farmers suffer from dry climates and extremely long dry seasons. Jordan, which has an annual rainfall of 20 to 200 millimetres, is the only country thus far to have considered the operation due to its geographic and climatic conditions. The procedure is expected to alleviate the side effects of the climate change that the country is suffering from, which is causing precipitation to drop from 15 to 60 percent per year.