In the early morning of May 8, there was a revival at the Chkalovsky airfield in the Moscow region. The sides were preparing for the flight, which were supposed to provide a cloudless sky on the day of the Victory Parade. I had no idea how it was done before, so I decided to sacrifice sleep and went to look.
Employees of the press service of the Russian Air Force and a small group of journalists: we are advancing to the sites where the planes are stationed, which will carry out meteorological control and, if necessary, throw out reagents to eliminate clouds.
In total, up to 10 An-12 and An-26 transport aircraft are involved in the work to ensure favorable weather conditions.
While we are waiting for the start of the movement, I went to climb the plane.
Cabin entrance. Crew humor.
An-12 took off for the first time in 1957. It was mass-produced until 1973. So everything here is “old school”, no fancy LCD screens.
Navigator's cabin. Probably the best review ever. I have long dreamed of shooting from such a cabin in flight ...
Location FAC.
The dashboard is high, because of it little is visible even to a tall person. In other matters, there is a navigator for this.
Flight engineer position?
Guess what it is.
Oxygen tanks: the aircraft takes off to a height of 9000 meters, some reagents are ejected through an open hatch, while the crew uses oxygen masks.
Former gunner's cabin. An-12 was originally a military transport aircraft.
Navigator's cabin.
An-26 cockpit.
Finally, movement began: a truck drove up to one of the planes and began to unload something from there.
These were cylinders of liquid nitrogen, one of the reagents used to disperse clouds of reagents.
The balloon is connected to a "fine ice particle generator". A spray tube is brought out of the side. Under pressure, a jet of deeply cooled air is ejected through it, with a temperature of -90 ° C, the moisture from which the cloud consists, while crystallizing and falling out in the form of precipitation.
Next, boxes with cement powder are loaded. They are thrown from a great height by hand over the area of cumulus clouds of vertical development.
When falling, such a box opens and the cement contained in them, crumbling, performs two functions: firstly, it creates a force opposite to the ascending air currents, due to which such clouds develop upwards, and secondly, the particles of this powder collect moisture, become heavier and carry water drops with them , causing precipitation and thus destroying the cloud.
This method is used not only against "high" cumulus clouds, but also against the so-called warm ones: liquid nitrogen is ineffective at ambient temperatures above -0.5°C.
Clouds can not only be made to rain. If you overdo it with reagents, they will last longer than usual. Sometimes they do this if there is a risk that, during acceleration, precipitation will occur exactly where it is not needed, but it is more likely that the wind will sweep the clouds oversaturated with reagents away from the “protected” territory.
After loading, the tankers arrived.
Aircraft can stay in the air for up to 9 hours.
The weather did not predict precipitation, but several reconnaissance aircraft still had to be in the air on May 9, in order to exclude even the slightest chance of precipitation before the fireworks.
Very often, bad weather interferes with our plans, forcing us to spend the weekend sitting in the apartment. But what to do if a big holiday is planned with the participation of a huge number of residents of the metropolis? Here the dispersal of clouds comes to the rescue, which is carried out by the authorities to create favorable weather. What is this procedure and how does it affect the environment?
The first attempts to disperse clouds
Clouds were first dispersed back in the 1970s in the Soviet Union with the help of special Tu-16 Cyclones. In 1990, Goskomgidromet specialists developed a whole methodology that allows creating favorable
In 1995, during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, the technique was tested on Red Square. The results met all expectations. Since then, cloud dispersal has been used during significant events. In 1998, they managed to create good weather at the World Youth Games. The celebration of the 850th anniversary of Moscow was not without the participation of the new methodology.
Currently, the Russian cloud overclocking service is considered one of the best in the world. She continues to work and develop.
The principle of dispersal of clouds
For meteorologists, the process of dispersal of clouds is called "seeding". It involves the spraying of a special reagent, on the nuclei of which the moisture in the atmosphere is concentrated. After that, precipitation reaches and falls to the ground. This is done in areas preceding the territory of the city. Thus, the rain passes earlier.
This technology of dispersal of clouds makes it possible to provide good weather within a radius of 50 to 150 km from the center of the celebration, which has a positive effect on the celebration and the mood of people.
What reagents are used to disperse clouds
Good weather is established with the help of silver iodide, liquid nitrogen vapor crystals and other substances. The choice of component depends on the type of clouds.
Dry ice is sprayed onto the layered forms of the cloud layer below. This reagent is carbon dioxide granules. Their length is only 2 cm, and the diameter is about 1.5 cm. Dry ice is sprayed from an aircraft from a great height. When carbon dioxide hits a cloud, the moisture it contains crystallizes. After that, the cloud dissipates.
Liquid nitrogen is used to fight nimbostratus clouds. The reagent also diffuses over the clouds, causing them to cool. Silver iodide is used against powerful rain clouds.
Dispersal of clouds with cement, gypsum or talc avoids the appearance of cumulus clouds that are high above the earth's surface. By dispersing the powder of these substances, it is possible to achieve weighting of the air, which prevents the formation of clouds.
Cloud Dispersal Technique
Operations to establish good weather are carried out using special equipment. In our country, clouds are dispersed on Il-18, An-12 and An-26 transport aircraft, which have the necessary equipment.
Cargo compartments have systems that allow liquid nitrogen to be sprayed. Some aircraft are equipped with devices for firing cartridges with silver compounds. Such guns are installed in the tail section.
The equipment is operated by pilots who have undergone special training. They fly at an altitude of 7-8 thousand meters, where the air temperature does not rise above -40 °C. To avoid nitrogen poisoning, the pilots are in protective suits and oxygen masks for the entire flight.
How do clouds disperse
Before starting to disperse cloud masses, experts examine the atmosphere. A few days before the solemn event, air reconnaissance clarifies the situation, after which the operation itself begins to establish good weather.
Often, planes with reagents take off from located in the Moscow region. Having risen to a sufficient height, they spray particles of the drug onto the clouds, which concentrate moisture near them. This leads to the fact that heavy precipitation immediately falls over the spray area. By the time the clouds are over the capital, the supply of moisture is running out.
The dispersal of clouds, the establishment of good weather brings tangible benefits to the residents of the capital. So far, in practice, this technology is used only in Russia. It is engaged in the operation of Roshydromet, coordinating all actions with the authorities.
Cloud acceleration efficiency
It was said above that they began to disperse clouds even under Soviet rule. Then this technique was widely used in agricultural needs. But it turned out that it can also serve the benefit of society. One has only to recall the Olympic Games held in Moscow in 1980. It was thanks to the intervention of specialists that the bad weather was avoided.
A few years ago, Muscovites were able to once again see the effectiveness of cloud dispersal at the celebration of the City Day. Meteorologists managed to get the capital out of the powerful impact of the cyclone and reduce the intensity of precipitation by 3 times. Hydromet specialists said that it is almost impossible to cope with powerful clouds. However, weather forecasters, together with the pilots, managed to do it.
Dispersal of clouds over Moscow no longer surprises anyone. Often, good weather during the Victory Day parade is established thanks to the actions of meteorologists. This situation pleases the inhabitants of the capital, but there are people who are wondering what such interference with the atmosphere could threaten. What do Hydromet experts say about this?
The consequences of dispersal of clouds
Meteorologists believe that talk about the dangers of dispersal of clouds have no basis. Environmental monitoring experts claim that the chemicals sprayed over the clouds are environmentally friendly and cannot harm the atmosphere.
Migmar Pinigin, who is the head of the research institute's laboratory, claims that liquid nitrogen does not pose a danger to both human health and the environment. The same applies to granular carbon dioxide. Both nitrogen and carbon dioxide are found in the atmosphere in large quantities.
Spraying cement powder also does not threaten any consequences. In the dispersal of clouds, the minimum fraction of matter that is not capable of polluting the earth's surface is used.
Meteorologists claim that the reagent is in the atmosphere for less than a day. After it enters the cloud mass, precipitation completely wash it out.
Opponents of cloud dispersal
Despite the assurances of meteorologists that the reagents are absolutely safe, there are opponents of this technique. Environmentalists from Ecodefense say that the forced establishment of good weather leads to heavy torrential rains that begin after the dispersal of the clouds.
Ecologists believe that the authorities should stop interfering with the laws of nature, otherwise it may lead to unpredictable consequences. According to them, it is too early to draw conclusions about what actions to disperse clouds are fraught with, but they definitely will not bring anything good.
Meteorologists reassure that the negative consequences of cloud dispersal are just assumptions. To make such claims, careful measurements of the concentration of aerosol in the atmosphere and the type of aerosol must be made. Until this is done, environmentalists' assertions can be considered unfounded.
Undoubtedly, the dispersal of clouds has a positive effect on large-scale open-air events. However, only residents of the capital are happy about this. The population of nearby territories is forced to take the brunt of the elements. The debate about the benefits and harms of good weather technology continues to this day, but so far scientists have not come to any reasonable conclusion.
They were undertaken by meteorologists back in the days of the USSR. Back in the 1970s, special Tu-16 Cyclone jet aircraft, created on the basis of the Tu-16 strategic bomber, were used for this. The Russian cloud dispersal service is considered one of the best in the world.
The technology for creating favorable weather conditions was developed in 1990 by specialists from the State Committee for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Control (Goskomgidromet), and since 1995, after the first large-scale application during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Victory, it has been widely used.
Migmar Pinigin, head of the atmospheric air hygiene laboratory at the Research Institute of Human Ecology and Environmental Hygiene of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, said that liquid nitrogen is a gas of the same name concentrated at low temperatures, the content of which in the atmosphere is about 78%. According to him, "the question of the harmfulness of this reagent disappears by itself." As for granular carbon dioxide, its formula - CO2 - coincides with the formula of carbon dioxide, which is also present in the atmosphere. Aleksey Kokorin, head of the climate program of the World Wildlife Fund, assured that people are not threatened even by the spraying of cement powder: "When dispersing clouds, we are talking about minimal doses."
The reagent exists in the atmosphere for less than a day. After entering the cloud, it is washed out of it along with precipitation, meteorologists are sure.
According to Alexander Drobyshevsky, assistant commander-in-chief of the Air Force, "the use of reagents, in terms of pollution, does not affect the state of the earth's surface in any way. The number of reagent particles falling per unit area of the earth is negligible, it is hundreds of times less than the natural level of dust deposition."
However, this technique also has its opponents. So, ecologists from the public organization "Ecodefense" argue that there is a certain relationship between the dispersal of clouds and heavy rains that fall in the following days. According to the head of the organization, Vladimir Slivyak, "modern science is not yet able to talk about the consequences of such interference, and they can be very different." In this regard, the position of environmentalists is unequivocal: "Such actions must be stopped." No less unambiguous is the answer of meteorologists. According to Valery Stasenko, head of the Department for Monitoring Geophysical Processes, Active Influences and State Supervision of Roshydromet, "the conclusions of environmentalists that rainy weather is a consequence of our activities are nothing more than speculation. To draw such conclusions, it is necessary to measure the level of aerosol in the atmosphere, its concentration, establish the type of aerosol. Without these data, such statements are unfounded. "
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
We are used to the fact that on the days of big holidays, Moscow parades and festivities are not overshadowed by bad weather. The technology of local weather improvement is well developed today, although the history of this direction goes back centuries.
Everything depends on the weather
Any news includes a weather forecast, too much depends on it. Our ancestors prayed for rain and tried to make clouds rain with bells. With the advent of artillery, they began to shoot at the clouds carrying hail to save the crop. But the success of these attempts was unpredictable: sometimes it worked, sometimes not. Modern science has learned to control the weather at least locally. Many are interested in the question of whether they are over Moscow and do they really do it? Is it possible anywhere else? Isn't it harmful? Doesn't this spoil the climate in neighboring areas?
Ahead of the planet
Russian researchers have learned to control the weather better than others. Foreign countries only adopt domestic experience. Closely dealt with the issue of weather control in the Soviet Union in the 40-50s of the last century. At first, the dispersal of clouds was purely utilitarian: in the spirit of that time, they wanted to make the sky spill over agricultural land. The work went well, and weather control ceased to be a utopia.
The accumulated knowledge was useful later in the days of the Chernobyl disaster. The goal of the scientists was to save the Dnieper from radioactive contamination. The attempt was successful. If not for the efforts of scientists and the military, the size of the disaster would have been much greater.
How are the clouds dispersing over Moscow today? In general, the same as 60 years ago.
Cloud dispersal technology
The first step is to determine how far the rain clouds are from the desired location. An accurate forecast is needed 48 hours before the estimated time, for example, before the parade. Then they study the composition and characteristics of the clouds: each of them needs its own reagent.
The meaning of the technology is that a reagent is placed in the center of the cloud, on which moisture sticks. When the amount of concentrated moisture becomes critical, it starts to rain. The cloud sheds before the place where the cloud was directed along the air currents.
The following substances are used as reagents:
- dry ice (carbon dioxide) in granules;
- silver iodide;
- a liquid nitrogen;
- cement.
How do clouds disperse over Moscow?
To do this, clouds are processed at a distance of 50 or 100 km from the place where rain is not needed.
Used for stratus clouds closest to the ground. This composition is poured onto clouds at an altitude of several thousand meters. Special navigation is applied, processed clouds are marked so that there is no re-impact.
The nimbostratus clouds, located above, get liquid nitrogen, or rather the crystals of its soaring. Aircraft are equipped with special large-capacity, and sprayed over the cloud. This is how clouds are dispersed in Moscow with the help of well-known chemistry.
Silver iodide is placed in special weather cartridges and fired at high rain clouds. These dense clouds are composed of ice crystals and their lifetime does not exceed 4 hours. The chemical structure of silver iodide is very similar to ice crystals. After falling into a rain cloud, pockets of condensation quickly form around it, and soon it rains. At the same time, there may be a thunderstorm or even hail, such is the property of these clouds.
However, this is an incomplete answer to the question of how the clouds are dispersed over Moscow. Sometimes dry cement is also used. A package of cement (standard paper bag) is attached to the hook. The impact of the air flow gradually breaks the paper, and the cement is gradually blown out. There is a connection with water, and drops fall to the ground. Cement is used to treat air to stop cloud formation.
Is it harmful to disperse the clouds?
This issue is constantly discussed by residents of the regions bordering the Moscow region, especially the Smolensk region. The logic is simple: as the clouds disperse over Moscow on May 9, so it rains endlessly.
It would seem that the reagents cannot bring much harm, these substances have long been well studied. However, to disperse clouds, up to 50 tons of reagents are used at a time. To date, there are no studies that could prove or disprove the harm done to nature. Ecologists say that the chronology of rainfall is broken, and that's it.
Even lawsuits for moral damages have been recorded, but not a single lawsuit has been satisfied so far. The dissatisfaction of the residents of the Moscow region is explained very simply: they feel they are unequal citizens. Residents of cities and towns surrounding Moscow are forced to spend all more or less significant holidays with rain, even if there was no precipitation according to the forecast.
At the same time, people recognize that the dispersal of clouds is simply necessary in the event of a threat to crops or housing, when a hurricane or hail is expected. A large number of residents are disgusted by the way they disperse the clouds in Moscow for the holidays, because they have the same holiday turned out to be completely spoiled.
Good, sunny weather in recent years certainly accompanies all major metropolitan holidays. Now you can "order" the weather. Clouds easily disperse and adverse weather conditions do not spoil the holiday. Today, on May 8, aviation began to form the weather over Moscow: At the Ramenskoye and Chkalovsky airfields near Moscow, specialists from the Russian Air Force and the Agency for Atmospheric Technologies of Roshydromet began loading aircraft with reagents.
The first attempts to make good weather were made back in the Soviet Union, and today the Russian cloud dispersal service is considered the best in the world. Other countries are just adopting our experience.
The method of creating favorable weather conditions has been widely applied since 1995. In the early morning, aerial reconnaissance clarifies the situation, after which planes take off from one of the airfields near Moscow. Dry ice is sprayed against the layered forms of the lower cloud layer from a height of several thousand meters, and liquid nitrogen is sprayed against the nimbostratus clouds. The most powerful rain clouds are bombarded with silver iodine, which is filled with meteorological cartridges. Getting into the clouds, the particles of the reagent concentrates moisture around itself, "pulling" water out of the clouds. As a result, over the area where dry ice or silver iodide is sprayed, heavy rain almost immediately begins. On the way to Moscow, the clouds dissipate.
The cost of such flights can reach several million rubles. It is estimated that one fair weather event costs the city treasury a total of $2.5 million.
Nevertheless, Muscovites, apparently, will celebrate Victory Day under umbrellas: weather forecasters, although they promise warm weather, do not rule out rain, and in some places even thunderstorms. "In the capital on May 9, short-term, local rains are expected in the afternoon, the dispersal of clouds will not significantly affect the air temperature," said Dmitry Kiktev, deputy director for science at the Russian Hydrometeorological Center.
Vladimir Slivyak, head of the Ecodefense public environmental organization, is sure that "artificial elimination of natural precipitation over Moscow often leads to the fact that it can rain for a very long time." This happens when the humidity of the air changes sharply, and the direction of movement of air fronts also changes. Such a picture was observed after the dispersal of clouds over Moscow in honor of the Independence Day of Russia - June 12, 2005.
According to the meteorologists themselves, all the talk about the negative aftereffects of the reagents has no basis. Valery Stasenko, head of the department of active actions of Roshydromet, says: "The conclusions of environmentalists that rainy weather is a consequence of our activities are nothing more than speculation. We know the periods of existence of clouds, we know the patterns of precipitation and precipitation."
The reagent exists in the atmosphere for less than a day. After entering the cloud, it is washed out of it along with precipitation, meteorologists are sure.
The coordinator of the climate program of the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund Alexei Kokorin also said that the dispersal of clouds with the help of reagents does not threaten the environment. "The dispersal of clouds with the help of reagents can affect the weather, but this is a local effect - the rain that will fall on Moscow after the use of reagents will take place somewhere in the region. But for the climate in general, flora and fauna, there is nothing to worry about," he said. Kokorin.
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