Rain Induced by Supercontinuum Laser Beams

Background

Rain induction methods involves seeding chemicals such as silver nitrate ions which could produce negative impact on the environment. With the advent of commercially available ultra-high power compact ultrafast laser technology new methods to induce rain by high intensity light beams are proposed. Some of them used backscattered light to evaluate efficiency of air filamentation as a cause of water condensation. However, they did not determine amount of rain from different states in the atmosphere. Another approach to use ultrashort UV laser pulses is expected to offer a much more efficient activation of nucleation and growth in the atmosphere since it requires less photons than in the Near infrared region. However, it may be harmful for humans. Thus, there is a need to develop a chemical free laser induced rain method using super continuum laser beams that are safe to humans.

Technology Overview

This invention relates to a method that develops chemical-free, laser-induced rain method uses super continuum (SC) generation by 800 nm 100 fs ultra-high power laser beams to produce photoionization in optical filaments and application of Gaussian and Laguerre Gaussian beams. The SC is used to produce multiple filamentation and micro particle manipulation in atmosphere with obvious applications in arid or drought ridden areas.

Benefits

This invention provides a better way to induce rain by:

• The use of high peak power filament inducing laser pulses to ionize air molecules and preexisting aerosols
• Manipulation of nano and micro sized particles using special function beams as potential particle traps, such as Laguerre Gaussian and Gaussian beams.

The outcome is a clean, safe, efficient method for inducing rain.

Applications

This invention is a successful strategy for inducing chemical-free, laser induced rain method that is clean, safe and efficient.

This application is not just limited to rain induction but can also be used in clearing dust and cloud clearing dirt from air formation moving dirt, micrometer and nanometer particles to other locations using a swept laser beam in the sky.

Potential Markets:

The U.S. cloud seeding market is still at its nascent stage. Spending on artificial rain in the U.S. accounted to USD 16 Million in the year 2013. This technology has the potential to replace chemical based cloud seeding. Global ultrafast lasers market is expected to increase from nearly $2.7 billion in 2016 to nearly $7.1 billion in 2021 at a CAGR of 21.7%.

Opportunity

Licensing available