The Director of the Northern Royal Rainmaking Operation Center, Miss Nuengruethai Tantiplubthong has announced that 86 per cent of the 800 rainmaking flights during the last three months were conducted successfully. The operations were launched on 125 days, 90% of which had successfully brought artificial rain to Bhumibol Dam and Sirikit Dam.
CHIANG MAI, 14 July 2015 – The Director of the Northern Royal Rainmaking Operation Center, Miss Nuengruethai Tantiplubthong has announced that 86 per cent of the 800 rainmaking flights during the last three months were conducted successfully. The operations were launched on 125 days, 90% of which had successfully brought artificial rain to Bhumibol Dam and Sirikit Dam.
According to the director, this year the rainmaking operations faced greater obstacles because of the changing environmental conditions which nurture cloud seeding.
This year, the temperature in the region has increased by an average of one degree Celsius while relative humidity had also declined, resulting in less rainfall. Moreover, daylight hours are longer than usual. On some days the sun set after 7.30 p.m.
This has prompted the five rainmaking centers in the northern region to delay their flights to evening time which usually provides more suitable relative humidity — the main factor needed for successful artificial rainmaking.
The Director of the Northern Royal Rainmaking Operation Center has called for economical use of water, and promotion of environmental conservation. She advised farmers to follow the New Theory Farming technique conceived by His Majesty the King as part of his philosophy of a sufficiency economy to help the country overcome the water crisis.
