Company ‘Waterbombs’ Clouds to Prevent Rainfall in São Paulo During Carnival

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A radar captures water-laden clouds, with the potential for rain, moving towards São Paulo. Before that, the clouds receive the droplets and are able to drain before reaching the city. An expert says the operation “will achieve some adjustments, but will not succeed in providing the Carnival of dreams”.

“The plan is to make it rain in the right place, like the Cantareira reservoir, for instance, and free the revelers to enjoy the Carnival more fully”, said the vice-president of Sustainability and Supplies at Cervejaria Ambev, Rodrigo Figueiredo, in an interview with the G1. Skol, from Ambev, is the São Paulo Carnival’s official sponsor.

According to Modclima, which carries out the service, the operation consists of depositing droplets of drinking water on the clouds in the region where rain is desired. According to the company, the action increases the size of the clouds and, consequently, the chance of rain within the project area.

A weather radar captures water-laden clouds, with the potential for rain, moving towards São Paulo. Before that, the clouds receive the droplets and are able to drain before reaching the city.

The company argues that the method is natural and does not harm the environment. “This is a chemical-free method and uses only drinking water applied in the form of controlled diameter droplets. This way, the natural process of vertical cloud growth and precipitation is “mimicked”, resulting in the induction of rain. [There are] No side effects or damage to the environment” adds Majory.

Each aircraft discharges about 300 liters of water into the atmosphere which is deposited in clouds that are between one and six kilometers in diameter. The company providing the service argues that the efficiency of the procedure is high.

“For every ten rains seasoned, seven rains occur. The action is localized, working in clouds with a one to six-kilometer diameter that, after a period of 15 to 20 minutes, induces rain on the site,” says the CEO of Modclima.

This is the first time the company performs an action like this to guarantee sunshine during Carnival. The company has been in the market for 12 years and has already carried out projects of this type for other purposes, such as at the time of the water crisis when it was hired by the São Paulo Basic Sanitation Company (SABESP).

“The real functionality of this is highly controversial in the scientific environment. The method can only make small adjustments in clouds. If it is a very heavy cloud, for instance, it may make it rain, but it will rain in Cantareira, and probably reach São Paulo. On the other hand, there are clouds that may not even rain. So it must be a cloud that was about to rain a little,” according to Theotonio Pauliquelis, a professor at Unifesp.

Application

In 1998, when the project began to come off paper, the technique was implemented by SABESP, which hired the Imai company to induce artificial rain at the head of the Cantareira and Alto Tietê systems, which supply 18 million people in Greater São Paulo. There were more than 500 flights, with positive rain events in 50 percent of them.

The rains were also employed in the Northeast at the request of Bahia mayoralties. The municipalities of Mirorós and Gentio do Ouro, located in the Brazilian semiarid region, experienced an intense drought between 2008 and 2009 and a reduction in the level of the dam that supplied this region.

The technique was introduced in 2010 at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Germany.

Rainfall over Carnival

The planes have been working since the day before pre-Carnival on Friday, February 14th, and there have been only scattered rains in the capital of São Paulo.

According to Climatempo, there is no forecast for storms during Carnaval in São Paulo. On Friday night, February 21st, low to light rainfall is expected, as well as during all of Saturday 22nd. On Sunday, 23rd, the weather is expected to be cloudy with light rain.

On Monday and Tuesday, February 24th and 25th, still according to Climatempo, the sun should come out, but rainfall may occur throughout the day.

Source: G1

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