Ten years of cloud seeding: The "People's Experience"

Abstract

There is no doubt that tracking and studying monthly and annual rainfall amounts is important in the field of climate studies, and it is of particular importance in Libya due to its close relationship with agricultural activity and agricultural production in the northern part of the country.
There is no doubt that seasonal and annual changes in rainfall amounts are normal and occur continuously. However, such changes, whether negative or positive, are only noticeable in some years and under special climatic conditions. Therefore, deviations from the average rainfall in a place only occur under specific conditions.
This study comes as an attempt to study and clarify the relationship between rainfall rates in the 1980s, a period characterized by cloud seeding activities (cloud farming in the Jamahiriya), and the rainfall rate of double that of the preceding decade.
The meteorological statistics recorded in six years from stations in the north of the Jamahiriya were tracked and processed, for a period of time that extended between 1960-1986. To facilitate the study, the studied period was divided into six sections (five years for each of them, and the average rainfall was represented graphically, and a comparison was made between the average rainfall for each of the last two periods (80-85/84-89) and the overall average for the period (1960-1979).
The study results indicate that there is little difference between the compared rainfall rates at two stations, Benina and Shahat. These are two areas that are believed not to have been affected by eutrophication activities. The remaining stations, Nalut, Tripoli, Misrata, and Tobruk, were affected by this activity to varying degrees.
Comparison of average rainfall shows significant positive differences for the two decades of the 1980s compared to the general average, especially during the last part of the year (autumn), which coincides with the plowing and sowing period in the north of the Jamahiriya, as well as an increase in emulsification activity to provide the water necessary for germination.