‘Artificial rain’ technology is developed by scientists at IIT Kanpur

In a test flight for cloud seeding, IIT-K successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of their ‘artificial rain’ technology

By Nithya Shree Sangameshwar

Hyderabad: The development of ‘artificial rain’ technology was a significant milestone for the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT-K). It took six years of research and development to create this innovative solution. The breakthrough technology was designed to create rainy conditions artificially, which could help fight dry weather and air pollution.

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In a test flight for cloud seeding, IIT-K successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of their ‘artificial rain’ technology. The experiment was conducted with the proper authorisation of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This test flight was a crucial step towards the practical implementation of this technology.

This artificial rain project was led by Manindra Agrawal, a professor at the IIT Kanpur Department of Computer Science and Engineering. “Our capabilities in this direction have undergone successful testing,” he stated.

After the Uttar Pradesh government contacted IIT-Kanpur to offer Bundelkhand artificial rains in 2017, it took six years for this to bring it to fruition. China, which had created this technology first, had refused to provide it to India. As a result, scientists from IIT Kanpur decided to research and acquire the essential knowledge themselves.

A Cessna plane flew during the test, ascending to a height of 5,000 feet from IIT Kanpur’s airfield.