Science. 1969 Mar 28;163(3874):1445-9. doi: 10.1126/science.163.3874.1445.
With reference to arguments that weather modification technology is sufficiently advanced for the federal government to finance cloud-seeding operations as a means of alleviating water shortages, an analysis of the Whitetop rain stimulation experiment was performed. The average 24-hour precipitation in six concentric regions up to 180 miles from the center of the target on 102 days of cloud seeding was less than that on the 96 experimental days without seeding. For distances less than 30 miles, the apparent loss of rain due to seeding was 32 percent. With the increase in distance, this apparent loss decreased to a minimum of 9 percent for gages between 120 and 150 miles from the center. However, the 48 gages at distances between 150 and 180 miles showed a 22 percent apparent loss of rain due to seeding. The estimated average loss of rain within the whole region of about 100,000 square miles was 21 percent of what would have fallen without seeding. When a 5-year experiment, expected to produce a 5 to 10-percent increase, shows a 20-percent decrease in rainfall, the relevant technology does not appear reliable enough for practical use.
关于有人认为，气象调节技术已经相当先进，联邦政府可以资助云种作业以缓解水资源短缺，本文对 Whitetop 人工降雨刺激实验进行了分析。在对 102 个云种作业日和 96 个无云种作业日进行为期 24 小时的平均降水分析后发现，在离目标中心半径 180 英里范围内的 6 个同心区域中，云种作业后的平均降水量小于无云种作业时的降水量。在距离小于 30 英里的地方，因云种作业造成的降雨明显减少了 32%。随着距离的增加，在离中心 120 至 150 英里的雨量计上，这种明显的降雨损失减少到最低 9%。然而，在距离 150 至 180 英里的 48 个雨量计上，因云种作业造成的降雨减少了 22%。在大约 10 万平方英里的整个区域内，预计平均降雨量减少了 21%，这是没有云种作业时的降雨量。当一个为期 5 年的实验预计会增加 5%至 10%的降雨量，而实际结果却显示降雨量减少了 20%时，相关技术似乎还不够可靠，无法实际应用。
