Weather modifiers making Wuwei wetter, wealthier
Rainmaking equipment helps transform arid area into hotbed for rapeseed
“With a focus on protecting the environment of the Qilian Mountains, we built 72 fixed weather modification stations, including 45 rocket launching stations and 14 artillery stations.”
Chen Lei, director of the Wuwei Meteorological Bureau
Wuwei city in Northwest China’s Gansu province, which borders the Qilian Mountains to the south and the Tengger Desert to the north, used to be a very dry place.
But in recent years, more rain and snow have fallen thanks to the use of weather modification techniques, including cloud-seeding rockets, to create artificial precipitation.
As the land around the Qilian Mountains becomes wetter and greener, it has made life easier and more comfortable. At Dahonggou village in the Tianzhu Tibetan autonomous county, for example, more tourists are coming to visit the large expanse of rapeseed flowers the village has planted in recent years.
“The oil made from our rapeseed is gaining fame,” said Zhang Qiande, former Party secretary of the village.
“The more rain, the better rapeseed flowers bloom, and the better our lives are,” he said.
Precipitation in the Qilian Mountains has increased by 14 percent over the past decade, and the annual flow of nearby rivers has also increased by 10.8 percent, according to the Gansu provincial government.
Qingtu Lake on the lower reaches of the Shiyang River, which originates in the Qilian Mountains and provides Wuwei with most of its water needs, has expanded to cover 26.7 square kilometers.
The increase is mainly due to Wuwei’s weather modification technicians.
The practice of weather modification in the city started in 1995. For the first 15 years, operations were not conducted from a fixed place.
Instead, rainmaking equipment was sent to wherever atmospheric conditions were best suited to cloudseeding.
Yan Hu still remembers the celebrations that would accompany the arrival of the cannons used to shoot silver iodide into the clouds to create artificial precipitation.
“People beat gongs and drums, hoping for rain with the help of the cannons,” the 66-year-old said.
Yan first began working at a meteorological station when he was 17 years old. After three years, he was sent to Dachaigou town to suppress hail using cannons and remained there for eight years.
He moved on in 1995, but he continued working until he retired nine years later.
In 2005, Yan’s decades of experience in weather modification led to him being asked to return to work and take up a post in Nanying town.
“Nanying is in a complicated location. It needed someone experienced. I recorded the shapes and numbers of clouds every day,” Yan said.
Liu Zhaonian, a middle-aged man who, like Yan, doesn’t speak much, also worked at the weather modification post for several decades.
“I’ve been dealing with water all my life — water from the mountains, water from the sky,” he said.
Weather modification in Wuwei entered the fast lane after a dedicated office was officially founded in 2010, and fixed bases were built to carry out operations.
Their work was boosted in 2012 when a national program to protect the country’s mountains was launched. Wuwei turned to weather modification and artificial precipitation as an important means of boosting water resources, reducing disasters and relieving drought.
“With a focus on protecting the environment of the Qilian Mountains, we built 72 fixed weather modification stations, including 45 rocket launching stations and 14 artillery stations,” said Chen Lei, director of the Wuwei Meteorological Bureau.
The internet of things is now used to coordinate operations of the different stations, making weather modification work more efficient, said Li Guangming, director of the Wuwei weather modification office.
In Tianzhu county’s Dashui village, the base set up by the Wuwei weather modification office is greatly valued by the villagers.
“This year, we have more rain. Our pastures are growing very well,” said Chang Zhicheng, village Party secretary.
Chang expects a better income this year because his ewes gave birth to scores of lambs in the spring.
“The grass is growing well, and it provides enough food for the sheep. This is mostly due to weather modification,” he said, adding that villagers needed to thank all those who had worked so hard to make more rain.
Since late June, Wuwei has been experiencing scorching weather that has caused the Xiying reservoir in the upper reaches of the city to almost dry up.
On the afternoon of Aug 10, Lu Yinshou, a member of the reservoir management office who was away on vocational training, received a message on his mobile phone that rain was forecast for the mountainous area six hours later.
He immediately called the commander in charge of local weather modification and was told that atmospheric conditions were favorable for inducing artificial precipitation.
Lu left for the station at once on his motorbike.
“Xiying is ready, please apply for airspace,” Lu said as he arrived at the station 20 minutes before rain was predicted.
The rain was on its way!