Technical Reports Document Library

2006 marked the fifth year of operations for the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA ) by the STWMA . Due to the dry weather experienced during much of the season, there were fewer opportunities for seeding compared to previous years. For the May-October period, there were 14 days on which cloud seeding operations took place within the target area. This compares with 25 days of seeding in 2005, 20 days of seeding in 2004, 22 days in 2003, and 8 days in 2002.

Cloud seeding missions did not take place in May due to convection occurring at night or warnings being issued. June fared a bit better, with two missions taking place during the second half of the month as a tropical airmass affected the area; however , high pressure domainated [sic] the area for a good part of the month, effectively capping the convective potential . The weather pattern became more conductive [sic] to favorable seeding conditions in July, with seeding taking place on six days . High pressure once again exerted its effects on the area during much of August:, although there were four days – two near the beginning of the month and two near the end – where clouds were seeded within the target area. September was quieter than usual, with only two days on which seeding operations took place. This turned out to be the end of the season, as no seeding took place during October.

Once the season concluded, Archie Ruiz, who works for Active Influence performing radar evaluations for the Texas weather modification projects, completed the radar evaluation of the program. Once again, the analysis shows that seeding may have produced favorable increases in rainfall, with apparent lifetime extensions in the seeded clouds along with other positive results. These numbers are presented and discussed towards the end of the report.

Unlike the past, the flight tracks are not included in the hard copy of the 2006 report; instead, they are on a CD attached to this report.