Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology

As a potentially effective method for increasing water resources, the acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology has attracted wide attention due to being eco-friendly and low-cost. Despite recent advancements, the spatiotemporal characteristics and underlying mechanisms of acoustically induce...

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Main Authors: Mengyao WANG, Jiaye LI, Ji CHEN, Jinzhao WANG, Songdong SHAO
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Results in Engineering
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025019668
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author Mengyao WANG
Jiaye LI
Ji CHEN
Jinzhao WANG
Songdong SHAO
author_facet Mengyao WANG
Jiaye LI
Ji CHEN
Jinzhao WANG
Songdong SHAO
author_sort Mengyao WANG
collection DOAJ
description As a potentially effective method for increasing water resources, the acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology has attracted wide attention due to being eco-friendly and low-cost. Despite recent advancements, the spatiotemporal characteristics and underlying mechanisms of acoustically induced rainfall remain insufficiently understood. In this study, a non-randomized acoustic rainfall field test was carried out in the Tibetan Plateau in 2020. Rainfall was measured by ground-based tipping-bucket rain gauges. Various classification criteria were applied to these rain gauges to analyze the acoustic impact on rainfall distribution. The results showed that the natural rainfall distribution is highly correlated with cloud conditions and terrain. The overall rainfall was more concentrated in the east. Under the influence of acoustic waves, the rainfall center shifted to the western region. The combined effect of the acoustic field and near-surface convection may cause this phenomenon. Compared with the natural rainfall process, the long-duration rainfall process under acoustic fields has an apparent two-stage pattern. The rainfall intensity is significantly higher in the central region (near the acoustic operation point) than on either side during the first stage. This phenomenon may be attributed to the triggering effect of acoustic waves on the formation process of large droplets. Rainfall in the second stage usually lasts for hours with random distribution, and the impact of acoustic waves may not be reflected in the rainfall distribution because of the complex cloud dynamics. These findings help fill the existing gap in understanding how artificial acoustic forcing interacts with precipitation processes over high-altitude regions.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2590-1230
language English
publishDate 2025-09-01
publisher Elsevier
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series Results in Engineering
spelling doaj-art-c545f2a1536f496b873fe9f83944ac872025-08-20T03:27:02ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302025-09-012710589510.1016/j.rineng.2025.105895Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technologyMengyao WANG0Jiaye LI1Ji CHEN2Jinzhao WANG3Songdong SHAO4School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Disaster Prevention and Emergency Technologies for Urban Lifeline Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China; Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, ChinaSchool of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Disaster Prevention and Emergency Technologies for Urban Lifeline Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, China; Corresponding author at: School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China.Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 999077, China; Corresponding author.School of Civil and Hydraulic Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining, 810016, ChinaSchool of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Intelligent Disaster Prevention and Emergency Technologies for Urban Lifeline Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan, 523808, ChinaAs a potentially effective method for increasing water resources, the acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology has attracted wide attention due to being eco-friendly and low-cost. Despite recent advancements, the spatiotemporal characteristics and underlying mechanisms of acoustically induced rainfall remain insufficiently understood. In this study, a non-randomized acoustic rainfall field test was carried out in the Tibetan Plateau in 2020. Rainfall was measured by ground-based tipping-bucket rain gauges. Various classification criteria were applied to these rain gauges to analyze the acoustic impact on rainfall distribution. The results showed that the natural rainfall distribution is highly correlated with cloud conditions and terrain. The overall rainfall was more concentrated in the east. Under the influence of acoustic waves, the rainfall center shifted to the western region. The combined effect of the acoustic field and near-surface convection may cause this phenomenon. Compared with the natural rainfall process, the long-duration rainfall process under acoustic fields has an apparent two-stage pattern. The rainfall intensity is significantly higher in the central region (near the acoustic operation point) than on either side during the first stage. This phenomenon may be attributed to the triggering effect of acoustic waves on the formation process of large droplets. Rainfall in the second stage usually lasts for hours with random distribution, and the impact of acoustic waves may not be reflected in the rainfall distribution because of the complex cloud dynamics. These findings help fill the existing gap in understanding how artificial acoustic forcing interacts with precipitation processes over high-altitude regions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025019668Acoustics-induced droplet agglomerationRainfall distributionField testTibetan plateau
spellingShingle Mengyao WANG
Jiaye LI
Ji CHEN
Jinzhao WANG
Songdong SHAO
Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology
Results in Engineering
Acoustics-induced droplet agglomeration
Rainfall distribution
Field test
Tibetan plateau
title Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology
title_full Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology
title_fullStr Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology
title_full_unstemmed Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology
title_short Impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics-induced artificial rainfall technology
title_sort impact of acoustic waves on rainfall distribution in acoustics induced artificial rainfall technology
topic Acoustics-induced droplet agglomeration
Rainfall distribution
Field test
Tibetan plateau
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123025019668
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AT jinzhaowang impactofacousticwavesonrainfalldistributioninacousticsinducedartificialrainfalltechnology
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