A Case Analysis of an Airplane Artificial Precipitation Enhancement Operation with Spring Cumulus Embedded Stratus in Qinghai Province

Using the CPEFS model products issued by the Weather Modification Center of China Meteorological Administration, combined with observation data such as radar, satellite and automatic station precipitation, a case analysis of airplane artificial precipitation enhancement operation with spring cumulus embedded stratus in Qinghai Province in 2021 is conducted from the perspectives of operation conditions, operation implementation and operation results. The results show that (1) the precipitation process system had sufficient water vapor, which had a certain potential of precipitation enhancement, and had the conditions to carry out artificial precipitation enhancement operations; (2) The operation area had dense clouds and abundant subcooled water, the catalytic site was located in the upper layer of the cloud, and the temperature of the catalytic layer was about-16~-12 ℃, thus with appropriate catalyst area and height. After the implementation of the aircraft cloud seeding operation, the impacts of the operation were clearly reflected by radar and satellite parameters. The comparison between the variation characteristics of hourly precipitation of ground stations from the operation area and those from the comparison area indicates that the aircraft artificial precipitation enhancement promoted the development and maintenance of the target cloud body to a certain extent, with obvious effect of cloud seeding.