velopment of improved instruments and the means to test and calibrate 

 these instruments under actual or simulated conditions. The priority areas 

 requiring attention are : ( 1 ) airborne instrumentation that can rapidly 

 and accurately provide measurement of the type discussed in the preced- 

 ing paragraph; and (2) more effective nucleating agents and more effi- 

 cient methods of getting the nucleating agents into the target area. 



Significant progress has been made in recent years in satellite technology 

 and in remote sensing from aircraft and from the ground. NOAA's com- 

 ing high resolution geostationary satellite and its developments in Dop- 

 pler and optical radars and other remote-sensing techniques will make sig- 

 nificant contributions to the advancement of the technology of weather 

 modification. Satellites and remote sensing should be able to tell us some- 

 thing of the physical changes taking place within the seeded cloud and 

 thus aid in the evaluation of field experiments. 



In the final analysis, however, it is the precipitation on the ground and 

 the runofT into the rivers and reservoirs that count where precipitation 

 enhancement is the goal. Measuring the true difference in precipitation 

 and runoff between seeded and unseeded areas continues to be the best 

 hope for assessing results, but a vast improvement in this area is needed. 

 Here radar, in combination with recording rain gages, represents the pri- 

 mary hope. 



Facilities 



A significant one-time investment in facilities will be required in order 

 to support the developmental programs. The more important of these 

 include : 



• cloud chambers to stimulate the natural environment to enable the 

 study of the natural processes involved and how they are affected 

 by artificial stimulation. 



• a test and calibration facility. NOAA has in operation the analog to 

 what is needed here, i.e.. National Oceanographic Instrumentation 

 Center. Here new instrumentation developed by both public and 

 private organizations are tested in modern facilities, and reports are 

 issued as to their accuracy, reliability, maintainability, etc. The Center 

 also provides a calibration service to both public and private orga- 

 nizations. Such a facility is urgently needed in the weather modifi- 

 cation field. 



• modern well-instrumented aircraft. A majority of the needed aircraft 

 already exist in the private sector. The Federal Government need 

 only be concerned with providing the minimum number of heavy 

 aircraft equipped with sensing and recording systems, radars, and 

 seeding capabilities required of the program. NACOA notes with 

 concern the need to cancel NOAA's planned move of its hurricane 

 modification project (Project Stormfury) to the Pacific for lack of 

 such aircraft 



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