Seeding Operations in the Greek National Hail Suppression Program

The Hellenic Agricultural Insurance Organization (EL.G.A.) is a public organization and the main insurance carrier of the agricultural production in Greece. The Meteorological Applications Centre (KE.M.E.) is the section of EL.G.A. which has conducted, since 1981, the Greek National Hail Suppression Program using airborne seeding, aimed at reducing insurance payments due to hail damage. The Program is being applied in Central Macedonia and Thessaly in the period April to September, covering an area of 5,000 square kilometers. The cloud seeding is performed by three aircraft releasing AgI in developing hail-bearing clouds as indicated by radar. The purpose of this study is the evaluation of the seeding operations that took place during the period April to August 2005. The seeding variables such as location, time and seeding rate are examined. In addition, the comparison of seeding rate between different types of storms is examined.