system compatibility continues, and that the quantity and quality of the 

 observations and services are maintained. 



Weather Modification and Control 



Last year NACOA noted that we stand on the threshold of a new era 

 of environmental control. We also emphasized that the field needs a 

 balanced approach on several fronts. Public policy issues with both do- 

 mestic and international ramifications are intensifying. Legislation, as well 

 as studies of social and economic impacts, are needed. Further, the rela- 

 tively modest funds allocated to research need to be focused to permit 

 the program to move ahead in a coordinated fashion. 



As we pointed out last year, weather modification within the Federal 

 Government is carried out by seven agencies to meet their mission needs. 

 The Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Transportation, and Commerce 

 are all concerned with weather modification possibilities related to their 

 responsibilities such as: precipitation and water resources management; 

 reduction of damage from hail, lightning, and violent stoniis; abatement 

 of hurricane intensity; and improvement of the capability to use airports 

 where visibility is reduced by fog. What NACOA found lacking is a central 

 strategy for the overall research effort. There is a common dependence on 

 increased theoretical understanding of the processes involved, which is in 

 turn dependent on accurate measurements, improved instrumentation, 

 facilities for experimentation, computer simulation, and the ability to 

 mount and manage large-scale field experiments. We had recommended 

 increasing the NOAA lead role because it possessed the bulk of the capa- 

 bilities required. We regret to note that this has not taken place, and 

 further, that a step has been taken in the opposite direction — the assign- 

 ment of lead responsibility for precipitation enhancement was transferred 

 from NOAA in Commerce to the Bureau of Reclamation in Interior. 

 Further, the budget was cut in half at the same time. It is important to 

 note that precipitation enhancement is not ready for general operational 

 use, and will not be, without much greater effort in research. 



To elaborate, there is a common thread that winds through all the 

 weather modification objectives that are supported by the various Federal 

 agencies. This thread is the importance of understanding the fundamental 

 physical processes involved. The traditional heavy reliance on statistical 

 inference from experiments, where only the gross features of the phenomena 

 could be observed, has carried the field forward to where it is today. Now, 

 however, it is time to probe more deeply into the machinery of these 

 phenomena if we are to go from modification to control. 



For this reason, NACOA is concerned with the decline of the overall 

 research effort in atmospheric and cloud physics. The resource levels which 

 support basic laboratory and field work in cloud physics have declined to 



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