The Hindu Business Line : Fog dispersal mechanism to beat airline blues away — Cost-effective, eco-friendly tech available in the West is best option

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Fog dispersal mechanism to beat airline blues away — Cost-effective, eco-friendly tech available in the West is best option

Vinson Kurian

The William Haight technique can be adapted to produce clouds where none exist, or to disperse fog by forming clouds.

Thiruvananthapuram , Dec. 28

SEASONAL western disturbances passing through northwest India reserve the worst weather in their rear, as airline pilots would swear.

The intermittent fog enveloping the region as each western disturbance passes has proved the nemesis of both airline operators as well as pilots. New Delhi International Airport is among the worst affected in this manner.

While flights are unable to take off, the incoming ones are invariably diverted to nearby airports. Inconvenience caused to passengers apart, the unscheduled detours are known to burn a hole in airlines' kitty.

In the latest development, the Centre has warned private operators that they would not be allowed to fly out of Delhi from next winter unless they train their pilots to operate flights in foggy conditions.

This has set the scientific community thinking on how best to deal with a situation that recurs with unfailing regularity every year. Fog dispersal mechanism through use of a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology available in the West is the best available option, says Dr Akhilesh Gupta of the National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting.

William Haight Model: The technology being analysed for the purpose is atmospheric ionisation aimed at modifying weather in a process patented first by William Haight in 1925.

This technology was founded on the theory that the earth contains a positive charge of static electricity and the atmosphere, a negatively charged region. Between the two is an insulating region of dry air that prevents the positive and the negative charges from combining to produce a lower temperature that would cause clouds to condense and rain to fall.

By discharging high frequency alternating current into the insulating layer, electrical contact is established between the positive and negative layers. The temperature drops in the clouds, causing them to condense and rain. The technique can be adapted to produce clouds where none exist, or to disperse fog by forming clouds.

In September 2002, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry had announced that it had drawn rain clouds to Moscow and produced rain with a large ioniser.

Today, most of the current fog dissipation experiments consist of favouring the growth of fog particles to help them precipitate.

According to Dr Gupta, the technology being pursued is based on collision and coagulation of fog particles, bringing in the force of gravity to bear on the coalesced particle to fall as rain.

Efforts are on to ensure that a suitable fog dispersal mechanism is in place to herald clearer air for unencumbered airline operations at least from the next winter onwards, Dr Gupta said.

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