When ‘cloud seeding’ was cool

This photo of a cloud-seeding plane flying over the Victorian Alps was taken to tell a story about “man-made rain.” (Photo, 1988.)

cloud seeding Experiments to manipulate clouds and make them rain began in Australia in 1947.

according to CSIRO Atmospheric Research DivisionThe projects involved “seeding” cumulus clouds with silver iodide into acetone solution to verify the following hypothesis:

…when cloud systems were relatively shallow, significant amounts of liquid water could occasionally be produced due to orographic upwelling… The dilemma for water managers is that the necessary suitable conditions occur relatively infrequently and the duration of a cloud seeding experiment required to demonstrate increased rainfall in a given area makes any experiment costly.

Profitable Hydro‘s cloud seeding program (started 2004) ‘ground-based generators were used to add a seeding agent to existing suitable clouds’ promoting the formation of ice crystals and increasing the amount of snow falling.

The energy provider permanently halted its cloud seeding program in 2023 after a review found that increased costs outweighed the benefits.

**This photo is part of an IA. A series that looks at Australia through the eyes of award-winning photojournalist Bill McAuley.**

Bill McAuley’s 40-plus-year news career began in 1969 as a student photographer at ‘The Age’ in Melbourne.

He has several published collections including ‘Portraits of the Soul: A lifetime of images with Bill McAuley’ and ‘Last Light on Victoria Dock, 1999’. Click to see more from Bill Here.

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