RAINMAKER AT WORK

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 December 1937, Page 11

RAINMAKER AT WORK

EXPERIMENTS IN HOLLAND

AMSTERDAM, Nov. 18

During the last two or three weeks experiments have been made at Schiphol’s aerodrome, and at Nieuwendam, a wooded suburb of Amsterdam, in driving away fog by artificial means. A floating fire engine was used with such success, it was claimed, that while at Rotterdam, only 40 miles away, the fog was so thick that aeroplanes and all water traffic were at a standstill, conditions in Amsterdam improved so that traffic could continue normally. Mr. August Veraart, who was responsible for these experiments, has been engaged on the work for several years, and was inspired to this idea of dispelling fog by the difficulties experienced at Schiphol in the landing of the famous aeroplane Pelican after its record trip of only four days from Batavia. He is known all over Holland, and in other parts of the world, as the “Rain Maker,” following earlier experiments.

Both kinds of experiments are still in their early stages, but Mr. Veraart, encouraged and assisted by the Dutch Ministry of Defence, the municipalities of Amsterdam, and many other towns and communes in Holland, and by the Royal Air Lines management and harbour authorities, goes on his way with the determination of a man thoroughly convinced that he is working on the right lines. This conviction, it isolated, receives constant justification By results. Since he started work in Amsterdam statistics show that the annual number of days of fog show a fall of 40 per cent. Other places show improvement to a lesser degree. Roughly, his way of causing rain is by breaking up the clouds by distributing ice and salt from aeroplanes in such a manner as will condense the vapour and cause it to fall as rain.

SUN DOES THE REST

With fog the system is different, as the chief aim is to cause an upward movement of the atmosphere, and to create a “hole” through which sunshine may pass and work its way under the mist, so continuing the work already started by artificial means.

This “hole” is made in the first instance. by forcing into the mist-laden atmosphere large quantities of water in a vertical direction at a high pressure. so that it evaporates at once. The spray is concentrated on as small a spot as possible, and where the ground has a great capacity for evaporation, such as heaps of gravel, porous bricks, high ground, and trees.

Also, in choosing this site, the direction of any slight wind there may be is taken into account, and where possible the moisture is forced upwards against rhe walls of high buildings, such as factories and towers.

Factories are particularly suitable, as their smoko and the heat they discharge help in creating the upward movement of the atmosphere. This is one great reason why Amsterdam has formed such a favourable place for the experiments. Mr. Veraart is now hoping for the time when be will be able to put his system to tile test against a London fog. With the many high buildings in London, as well as the factories and bonding stores in the harbour, he estimates that his system of handling tire hose, or whatever means of forcing the water into the air should be available, would result in a considerable clearance of the atmosphere by which a 'large proportion of the millions of pounds of damage done to trade and property by a fog would be obviated.