PESHAWAR, May 1: Pakistan Council for Science and Industrial Research (PCSIR) has envisaged a new standardized formula for cloud seeding that will cause artificial rains in winter.

Scientists said that the indigenously prepared formula was more cost-effective, environment friendly and chemically suitable for burning maximum fume production of silver iodide to cause artificial rain.

The sources said that the new cloud seeding formula did not require an aircraft and it would be sprinkled in the atmosphere from the ground through a burning device. The chemicals in clouds are sprinkled with the help of aircraft.

Scientific officer Jehangir Shah at the PCSIR told Dawn that successful results had been achieved and cloud seeding agents and devices could be prepared easily.

"Scientists have completed arrangements for causing artificial rain and they are just waiting for the upcoming winter," Mr Shah said, who has been involved in carrying out lab experiments on cloud seeding at the PCSIR.

He said that after establishing all the parameters a burning device was designed and fumes were tested on artificial clouds in a special air tight chamber in the laboratory.

Officials said that in the wake of the prolonged dry spell in the country during 1999-2000, the meteorological department requested the PCSIR, Peshawar to identify economically feasible chemical combination for artificial rain formation.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (Research and Development)financed the project. The basic objectives of the project were preparation of a standardized formula for burning silver iodide, very expensive ingredient and designing of suitable and effective flares for burning the cloud seeding chemicals in the atmosphere.

Following harsh drought the meteorological department conducted experiments of artificial rains by using sodium chloride salt and dry ice in Balochistan and other parts of the country, but results were not very successful whereas the experiment was very expensive.

Scientists said that the reasons of the failure were that dry ice and sodium chloride were only applicable on warm clouds (summer clouds), besides lacking of laboratory scale research and pilot level experimentation.

Mr Jehangir Shah said that some countries had offered to sale silveriodide, but the foreign manufacturing companies were not ready to give formula to locally prepare the basic ingredient. Approximately, he said, silver iodide required for one timerain on a specific area cost $58,000.

He said that fume burning devices had been designed with the technical assistance of arms manufacturers in Dara Adam Khel. The device, he said, could reach in the atmosphere up to 18,000 ft to spread the cloud seeding materials. In this way, he maintained, it would be cost effective because there would not be required aircraft for sprinkling.

Under the largely pursued practice of artificial rain through cloud see ding, small aircraft sprinkle chemicals from 16,000 to 18,000 ft height. Under the PCSIR's developed formula a cost-effective specially designed device would be fired in the air to sprinkle chemicals.