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RUSSIA MULLS USING WEATHER-ALTERING TECHNOLOGY FOR 2014 SOCHI OLYMPICS
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 2, 2011 - 17:34 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian meteorologists have begun monitoring weather
patterns in the North Caucasus mountain range to gauge the possibility
of using weather-altering technology for the 2014 Winter Olympics
in Sochi.
A network of stationary and mobile data stations has been deployed
in the mountains above Sochi, a resort on the Black Sea that will
host Russia's first ever Winter Games, a statement on the Natural
Resources Ministry website said.
"The need to conduct investigations comes from the fact that the
'weather has never been made' in mountainous locations," the Ministry
said.
A concern for the Sochi Olympics - as with any winter sport competition
- is guaranteeing a minimum quantity of snow. Pouring chemicals into
clouds from planes can provoke precipitation, a tactic officials use
in Moscow and St. Petersburg to stave off rain on public holidays.
But Russian scientists are unsure how the technology will adapt to
mountainous regions, where fast temperature fluctuations make cloud
behavior more unpredictable.
If the technology is adopted, Russian officials may be able to avoid
the embarrassment of the Vancouver Olympics last year, when snow had
to be brought in by trucks due to unseasonably warm weather that left
Cypress Mountain almost bare.
The opposite problem - too much snow, which delayed the men's Olympics
super-combined race in Vancouver - could also be addressed because
clouds could be seeded to shed their load before they reach the slopes.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the organizing committee, has provided
guarantees on the quantity and quality of the snow.
Other contingency measures include using artificial snow production
facilities, which the committee tested last year in Austria, and
storing natural snow deposits year-round in huge chambers, RIA
Novosti reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
PanARMENIAN.Net
September 2, 2011 - 17:34 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian meteorologists have begun monitoring weather
patterns in the North Caucasus mountain range to gauge the possibility
of using weather-altering technology for the 2014 Winter Olympics
in Sochi.
A network of stationary and mobile data stations has been deployed
in the mountains above Sochi, a resort on the Black Sea that will
host Russia's first ever Winter Games, a statement on the Natural
Resources Ministry website said.
"The need to conduct investigations comes from the fact that the
'weather has never been made' in mountainous locations," the Ministry
said.
A concern for the Sochi Olympics - as with any winter sport competition
- is guaranteeing a minimum quantity of snow. Pouring chemicals into
clouds from planes can provoke precipitation, a tactic officials use
in Moscow and St. Petersburg to stave off rain on public holidays.
But Russian scientists are unsure how the technology will adapt to
mountainous regions, where fast temperature fluctuations make cloud
behavior more unpredictable.
If the technology is adopted, Russian officials may be able to avoid
the embarrassment of the Vancouver Olympics last year, when snow had
to be brought in by trucks due to unseasonably warm weather that left
Cypress Mountain almost bare.
The opposite problem - too much snow, which delayed the men's Olympics
super-combined race in Vancouver - could also be addressed because
clouds could be seeded to shed their load before they reach the slopes.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the organizing committee, has provided
guarantees on the quantity and quality of the snow.
Other contingency measures include using artificial snow production
facilities, which the committee tested last year in Austria, and
storing natural snow deposits year-round in huge chambers, RIA
Novosti reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress