Choosing a cloud seeding contractor

Ask who makes the go / no-go call, what their background is, and what written criteria they apply. A program's value is concentrated in the decision of which storms to fly and which to decline. An operator who cannot describe their seedability criteria in specific terms — temperature bands, liquid water indication, trajectory, duration — is describing a schedule, not a method. Our own criteria are outlined in how we determine if a storm is seedable.

Establish which method is proposed and why it suits your terrain. Ask how the target catchment is defined, how trajectory from release point to ground is calculated, and what confirmation exists that material reached a usable layer. With ground generators in complex terrain, that confirmation is often weak — which may still be the right trade-off, but it should be stated rather than glossed. Background in the method comparison.

• Which state permits or registrations cover this work, and are they current?
• What federal weather modification reporting will be filed, and will we see it?
• For flight operations, what airspace authorizations apply, and how is ATC coordination handled?
• What insurance is carried, and at what limits?

Specific answers naming specific authorizations are the standard. General assurances of compliance are not.

• What is delivered per mission, and in what format?
• Are declined storms reported with reasons? (They should be.)
• Who owns the flight, dispersal, and atmospheric data — you or the contractor?
• Can an independent evaluator access the raw records?

Agree the evaluation design before the season starts, including who performs it and against what baseline. Agree suspension criteria in writing — flood conditions, saturated soils, avalanche risk, snowpack thresholds — along with who has authority to invoke them and how quickly operations stop.

• A guaranteed percentage increase in precipitation or water yield.
• Attribution of a specific storm's snowfall to a specific mission.
• Reluctance to share raw flight and dispersal data.
• No written seedability criteria and no record of declined storms.
• Vague answers about permits, airspace, or insurance.
• No suspension criteria, or criteria the operator alone controls.

We are a drone-based operator focused on winter orographic conditions, and we would rather scope a program honestly than win one on an overstated number. If you want to work through whether conditions in your basin support a program at all, get in touch — or read the water district guide, the ski resort guide, or the FAQ first.