Aircraft Cause Additional Snowfall

Status
Not open for further replies.

K-zon

Distinguished
Apr 17, 2010
179
0
18,630
Yea but isnt alot of that like a saturated source of ways to say make rain or snow fall. Still interesting and nefty to say in its own right of course. But not used alot think when trying to make rain or snowfall for its purpose of such. Just something that happens to say. Or rather the heated air too hits pockets of gas and expands and condenses into the pressence of a visible "solid" to say as well maybe too. Liquid Co2 i think is white with little added when in/at a cold enough temp. But not sure.
 

cyberstatic

Distinguished
Oct 9, 2003
1
0
18,510
"if this theory is true, how come it does not really rain or snow in the desert areas? something is missing here....."

Because you need clouds before you can make them rain/snow. Most desert areas dont have many clouds very often. Nevada for example is in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. As the clouds move from the pacific ocean eastwards towards Nevada they rise over the mountains and get colder as they increase in altitude, the moisture they contain condenses and as a result it starts to precipitate. This phenomenon severely reduces the number of clouds capable of further precipitation that reach Nevada.

Im just using Nevada as an example here but the point is, you need clouds before you can make it rain, and most deserts just dont have many.
 

f-14

Distinguished
Apr 2, 2010
774
0
18,940
A researcher at the the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado
obviously failed physics and forgot that all engines sit behind the propellers and those engines more then make up for the 30ºC loss of heat with a 80ºC+ engine heat.
i wonder how much he flys. not at all judging from his lack of observation that it has to be very high altitute to make the wings/cockpit windshield freeze up behind the engines. he should go get his pilots lisc. before conducting further research.
i'm left wondering how much tax dollars were wasted on this pot smoking episode of 'research'
having lived around AFB's and major airport hubs all my life it actually snows less 40 miles and under compared to all the snowfall totals from 250 miles out. maybe he should have researched the facts from airfield reports for the last 60 years before making this fail statement.
i know from my field of take off and destination of landing i have checked the snowfall measurements before and after flights in my log books.
 

dogman_1234

Distinguished
Oct 31, 2009
171
0
18,630
Aircraft produce supercooled air no matter what...unless the concentration is low.

Flying jetliners, one may see a long stream of clouds coming behind the aircraft..those are contrails. It is common for heated air to spontaneously cool down. Remember, matter changes kinetic energy faster when the changes are extreme.
 

nebun

Distinguished
Oct 20, 2008
1,160
0
19,240
[citation][nom]cyberstatic[/nom]"if this theory is true, how come it does not really rain or snow in the desert areas? something is missing here....."Because you need clouds before you can make them rain/snow. Most desert areas dont have many clouds very often. Nevada for example is in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. As the clouds move from the pacific ocean eastwards towards Nevada they rise over the mountains and get colder as they increase in altitude, the moisture they contain condenses and as a result it starts to precipitate. This phenomenon severely reduces the number of clouds capable of further precipitation that reach Nevada.Im just using Nevada as an example here but the point is, you need clouds before you can make it rain, and most deserts just dont have many.[/citation]
but can't you make your own cloud? isn't that what cloud seeding is?
 

RazberyBandit

Distinguished
Dec 25, 2008
99
0
18,590
[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]if this theory is true, how come it does not really rain or snow in the desert areas? something is missing here.....[/citation]
Yeah... In the desert, it just happens to be the clouds themselves.
 

sseyler

Distinguished
May 14, 2008
85
0
18,580
[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]but can't you make your own cloud? isn't that what cloud seeding is?[/citation]

No. We have the internet now, so if you don't know what "cloud seeding" is, you can start with a simple google search. In case you're lazy, the idea behind seeding clouds is to provide supercooled water droplets with condensation nuclei. The technique used for cloud seeding varies on location and altitude, but often silver iodide or dry ice are used as they have structures that are conducive to the formation of ice. Supercooled water is at a temperature below the water's usual freezing temperature at STP, but stays in the liquid state due to the rapid motion in the air, which prevents ice crystals from forming. Thus, by providing a "nucleus" upon which supercooled water can build crystals, they will grow until they are too heavy to be supported by updrafts in the clouds. The crystals then fall as precipitation - rain in warm areas and snow in cooler areas.
 

enforcer22

Distinguished
Sep 10, 2006
330
0
18,930
[citation][nom]nebun[/nom]if this theory is true, how come it does not really rain or snow in the desert areas? something is missing here.....[/citation]

Yeah the clouds genius.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.