Dr. Ali Abshaev

Biography:

Dr. Ali Abshaev is a Doctor and Associated Professor at the Hail Suppression Research Center in Russia, and head of weather modification laboratory at the High Mountain Geophysical Institute of Russian Hydrometeorological Service.

In 2004, he successfully defended his PhD degree on numerical simulation of dispersion of the seeding materials in hail clouds and optimization of their seeding, and in 2011 became Associate Professor in “meteorology, climatology and agricultural meteorology” at the High Mountain Geophysical Institute, where he conducts several scientific experiments related to hail suppression problem, precipitation enhancement.

In 2015, he defended his thesis on the creation of automated hail suppression technology and became a full Doctor of Sciences. Since 2016, he has also been a member of Expert Team on Weather Modification (ETWM) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Dr Abshaev has participated in several scientific projects and supplies of special systems, technology and equipment applied by Hail Suppression Services, Meteorological Services and Airports in Russia, Armenia, Moldova, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Serbia and Macedonia. He has published with co-authors 148 articles on the physics of clouds, hail suppression and precipitation enhancement, fogs dissipation and frosts mitigation, radar meteorology and storms warning. He is also the coauthor of 9 patents of the Russian Federation and of 4 manuals on hail suppression.

Project Brief:

"On the creation of updrafts for the formation of artificial clouds and rainfall "

The aim of the project is to assess the possibilities of the creation of a new method of rain enhancement by stimulating convection and precipitation using the energy derived from solar radiation.

Stimulation of convection is currently carried out in cloudless conditions in favorable atmospheric situation by heating deploying aerosols in atmospheric layers to effectively absorbing solar radiation, and by using balloons filled with helium to heat specific areas of the atmosphere.

Preliminary studies using 3D models have demonstrated that artificial updrafts can be created by heating up layers of the local atmosphere.

The evaluation of convection through these experiments suggested that if atmosphere is suitable, jet updrafts of up to 15 m/s might be formed with the potential to reach condensation height.

By employing fundamental research having strong theoretical and experimental elements, this project should indicate whether such a methodology is realizable.

Key Outcomes:

The project explored three different concepts for creating artificial updrafts and clouds:

Heliator Device: involved the creation of a multi-level system of fastened balloons in a toroidal form with blackened surfaces, filled with helium. The blackened balloon surface would be heated directly by the Sun and transfer its heat to the surrounding air by convection. However, practical implementation revealed that even a wind of 2-3 m/s constrained the lifting up of the Heliator. Theoretical calculations also showed insufficient energy of the Heliator, greatly diminishing even at a shallow side wind. As a result, further works in this direction were terminated.
Aerosol Layer Method: involved the creation of an aerosol layer in a near-ground atmospheric layer through the use of optimized aerosols with a maximum absorption of solar radiation. Multiple CFD simulations were carried out, showing that with an aerosol layer area of 1 sq.km and a lifetime of about 1 hour, convection can reach the level of condensation in a calm atmosphere. However, due to the high cost, despite the certain promises of this method, its further development was suspended.
Jet-Aerosol Method: based on the use of decommissioned turbojet aircraft engines equipped with a control system and additional devices for creating a vertical thermal jet. To increase the energy of the jet and accelerate the formation of water droplets during the forced rise of air, highly active hygroscopic particles ranging in size from 1 to 70 microns are abundantly thrown into the jet. This method has been theoretically worked out in the most detail, a special machine for carrying out full-scale experiments has been created and multiple tests have been carried out, which have yielded significant results, yet none to show the system is viable for cloud creation on demand.

For more information on the project please visit: http://www.hsrc-antigrad.com/what-we-do/uaerep-project/