A Study in Infra-Red
Part fifteen - Receive and Transmit
"A technology of that kind would be worth an untold fortune. Imagine being able to control any device simply by sending a command via radio waves. It's the future, Watson!"” Sherlock Holmes in the film “Sherlock Holmes”
There is one other profound way in which ionospheric heaters can influence weather.
Recall from part 1 that cosmic rays have been implicated in the augmentation of lower clouds by stripping electrons which then accelerate cloud condensation. This theory was developed in 1997 by Svensmark and Friis-Christensen and has been the subject of study by scientists at CERN, such as Jasper Kirkby.
Cosmic Ray Theory
This phenomenon has only been confirmed for cloud cover that is less than 3km above the surface. This is thought to be either due to:
The different nature of upper cloud formation from ice nuclei.
The upper atmosphere is constantly saturated with cosmic rays, in contrast to the lower atmosphere which experiences fluctuations in accordance with the sunspot cycle.
Could it be possible to artificially simulate this effect?
In the late 19th century, C.T.R Wilson used X-Rays on the air inside a cloud chamber, free of cloud condensation nuclei, to bring about heavy condensation by means of freeing electrons.
Nikola Tesla noticed this phenomenon when his electromagnetic beams caused the water vapour in the affected region to condense and speculated that this would be a future means to control the weather.
If beams of microwave energy were to be directed upwards into the atmosphere, then would this also set free electrons to enhance cloud formation?
Microwaves and radio waves are considered non-ionizing radiation as they don’t carry enough energy to instantaneously free electrons from atoms or molecules.
However, if the beam of microwave energy were to be sustained for long enough at the appropriate frequency and power level, then a phenomenon known as microwave breakdown of air occurs in the region affected. This entails exciting the electrons in the air to the point where a chain reaction leads to an electron avalanche.
The released electrons, consequently augment the action of cloud condensation nuclei in the process of cloud formation.
They grow by condensation and coagulation into charged particles called ion clusters which form the basis for cloud condensation nuclei. They can also attach themselves to aerosols, imparting their charge to them and radically enhancing cloud formation.
Recall the HAARP experiment in 2013, where the US Navy generated a several km wide plasma cloud in the stratosphere using a pulsed frequency of 1.44 - 4.34 Mhz.
Plasma is ionised gas consisting of protons and electrons.
As we know, free electrons accelerate cloud formation in the lower atmosphere, so it would be perfectly possible for the same technology to generate and enhance lower clouds.
Over the Radar
After having implicated sustained microwave energy in ionizing clouds, the next revelation is that radar technology, in addition to its function as a tool for observing weather phenomena, can also be applied to manipulating them.
Pioneering individuals such as DutchSinse and WeatherWar101 have expanded the notion of HAARP (Ionospheric heater) technology, present at key locations throughout the globe and involved in weather modification, to include the ubiquitous network of NEXRAD and other Doppler radar systems.
This new technology was developed from conventional weather radar networks, which had become established in North America, Europe, Japan and other developed countries between 1980 and 2000.
Recall that in 1968 the US affirmed a national policy:
“That it is the sense of Congress that the United States should participate in and give full support to the world weather program which included (1) a world weather watch – the development and operation of an international system for the observation of the global atmosphere and the rapid and efficient communication, processing, and analysis of world-wide weather data, and (2) the conduct of a comprehensive program of research for the development of a capability in long-range weather prediction and for the theoretical study and evaluation of inadvertent climate modification and the feasibility of intentional climate modification…..” Emphasis mine
From the Congressional Record (Senate), 1 April 1968.
Again, the common factor is the electromagnetic wave. In the case of NEXRAD, which employs microwaves in the form of short, high-intensity bursts of high frequency up to 2GHz. Each burst may last a microsecond. The receiver then listens for the echo to arrive at a picture of whatever the radar is being used to detect, in the case of weather radar, clouds and precipitation.
Again, if the beam of microwave energy were to be sustained for long enough at the appropriate frequency, then a phenomenon known as microwave breakdown of air occurs in the region affected. This entails exciting the electrons in the air to the point where a chain reaction occurs resulting in an electron avalanche. The electrons, consequently stripped from the air, in turn augment the action of cloud condensation nuclei in the process of cloud formation.
It’s important to note that the NEXRAD stations do not continuously operate in this mode. In their “official” mode, they are supposed to be active between 0.05% and 6.1% of the time, sending out the bursts of high-frequency (2GHz) for about 7s in an hour (0.19% of the time).
However, in their “switched on” for weather modification mode of operation, the beam would be pulsed (switched on and off) within the range 0 to 12.4 MHz and sustained for far longer periods.
That means each NEXRAD station operates as a miniature HAARP. It can alter the atmosphere above and around it, as explained in this video by WeatherWar101.
How Nexrad HAARP Works: Turning Natural Storms into Biblical Floods
Click here to watch video
If NEXRAD aimed within the region where lower cumulus clouds formed, it would augment cloud formation. A sustained beam of the right frequency rotated around the site would bring on an electron avalanche effect. Electrons accelerate cloud condensation, especially in the presence of aerosols.
The electrically conducting substances leached from coal fly ash and dispersed into the atmosphere by aircraft, when charged by artificially released electrons, make the perfect cloud seeds.
Scientists have determined that increased aerosol levels lead to a corresponding increase in clouds and change the nature of those clouds to enhance their warming properties.
“Using data from the DOE ARM Climate Research Facility in Barrow, Alaska, Vogelmann and Lubin determined that enhanced aerosol amounts can make clouds emit more thermal energy to the surface. In an aerosol-cloud process, increased aerosol concentrations cause the cloud droplets to become smaller and, within clouds of fixed water amounts, more abundant. Vogelmann and Lubin discovered that this process makes many clouds more opaque and emit more thermal energy to the surface, by an average of 3.4 watts per square meter, which is comparable to that by increased greenhouse gases.” Emphasis mine.
Aerosols In Many Arctic Clouds Warm Up Ground Surface
A climatologically significant aerosol longwave indirect effect in the Arctic
Generally, greater amounts of lower clouds, which reflect more sunlight than the heat energy they trap, will have a greater cooling influence. This applies the closer the lower clouds are to the equator. However, the further pole-wards the lower clouds occur, the greater the shift towards net warming until, over the Arctic, lower clouds have a warming effect overall. This applies throughout the year, except, briefly, during the summer.
In the Arctic, 60° - 90° N, the IPCC showed in 2001 that, for actual observed values, average year-round cloud cover was about 70% whilst, curiously, in the Antarctic it was about 3%.
Source: IPCC, Third Assessment Report: Climate Change, 2001
This correlates well with the record for temperature change by latitude for the period 1980 to 2001. Take note that the northern latitudes are on the left-hand side in the above graph and on the right-hand side in the graph below.
Looking at the change in Arctic cloud cover in spring, we can see that there has been a roughly 10% increase from the period 1980 (73%) to 2005 (83%). This linear change has overridden the effects of the Arctic oscillation.
Time series of seasonally averaged cloud fraction over the arctic seas in spring (March, April, May). Provided by Axel J. Schweiger.
Climate Indicators - Clouds
“Correlations with temperature and sea ice extent are strongest during spring and autumn when the cloud longwave effect dominates. It is shown that low clouds have a strong positive relationship with temperature during these seasons. However, the trend of Arctic aerosols has gone in the opposite direction, as Quinn et al. (2007) have observed with the decreasing sulfate aerosols since the mid-1990s at surface stations in the Arctic. Emphasis mine
Note here that although sulphate aerosols have been decreasing, this is not true of coal fly ash which acts as excellent cloud condensation nuclei and changes the nature of the clouds so that they have an enhanced warming effect.
“Overall, relationships between ice, temperature, and clouds indicate that cloud changes in recent decades may enhance the warming of the Arctic and may be acting to accelerate the decline of Arctic sea ice.” Emphasis mine
Interannual Variations of Arctic Cloud Types in Relation to Sea Ice
“Eastman and Warren (2010, hereafter EW10) has shown that cloud changes derived from surface observations (SURF) appear to be enhancing the warming seen in the Arctic. EW10 show an increasing trend in Arctic total cloud cover and a positive correlation between total cloud cover and surface air temperature in autumn, winter, and spring.” Emphasis mine
“Our companion paper EW10, based on surface-observed clouds, has found slight increases for all seasons in total cloud cover both over the Arctic Ocean and over the Arctic as a whole.” Emphasis mine
Arctic Cloud Changes from Surface and Satellite Observations
Spatial distribution of trends in cloud cover over twenty years. Provided by Axel J. Schweiger.
It is important to note that the graphic above depicting cloud cover over the North Pole does not include readings for Greenland and other regions around the Arctic circle. Lower cloud has also been on the increase in Greenland.
“On Greenland, which is covered in bright, light-reflecting snow, clouds primarily act to trap heat.”
Clouds, like blankets, trap heat and are melting the Greenland Ice Sheet
“At the critical surface melt time, the clouds were optically thick enough and low enough to enhance the downwelling infrared flux at the surface. At the same time, they were optically thin enough to allow sufficient solar radiation to penetrate through them and raise surface temperatures above the melting point.” Emphasis mine
“We further show that these thin, low-level liquid clouds occur frequently, both over Greenland and across the Arctic, being present around 30–50 per cent of the time.” Emphasis mine
July 2012 Greenland melt extent enhanced by low-level liquid clouds
It is intriguing to note that, dotted around the Arctic circle, are the remains of radar stations, still off-limits to the public.
(Image: US Air Force, public domain)
“Proximity to the Soviet Union and vast expanses of chilly, remote wilderness made Alaska, Canada and Greenland ideal locations for Cold War early warning radar stations, helping the West stay one step ahead of a potential Red Army invasion. But outdated technology and changing global threats have left many facilities – including the White Alice Communications System and Distant Early Warning Line – abandoned in an isolated and inhospitable region. Largely off-limits to urban explorers, their unmistakable remains are a chilling historical reminder of the high stakes tug-of-war between the superpowers of the day.”
“Another innovation of the 1950s, the DEW Line was a network of radar stations stretching from the Arctic region of Canada and the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to Greenland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands of Northern Europe. A joint project of the US and Canada, the DEW Line was rapidly constructed in response to the threat posed by Soviet bombers and became a cornerstone of the Colorado-based North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).”
Cold Warning: The Abandoned Radar Stations of the Arctic Circle
Did the animosity between the superpowers prevent them from collaborating upon a joint project or did the “Cold War” have more than one meaning?
Recall Capt. H.T. Orville chairman of the President’s Advisory Committee on Weather Control reporting that the USSR “had conducted numerous unpublicized but still detectable experiments apparently aimed at finding ways to speed melting of polar icecaps; and has even offered to join the United States in a project to turn the Arctic Ocean into a sort of warm water lake by melting the polar icecap.” Emphasis mine