Independent review finds IIT Kanpur’s cloud seeding “success” claim flawed: report cites modelled rainfall from Windy.com, omits measurement units and averaging periods, and ignores Delhi’s natural afternoon air-quality improvements.
IIT Kanpur’s Cloud-Seeding ‘Success’ Claim Draws Scientific Scrutiny
An unsigned report by IIT Kanpur—circulated publicly by Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa—claims the recent cloud-seeding sorties produced measurable rainfall and modest reductions in PM2.5 and PM10 at selected monitoring points. However, closer scrutiny shows serious methodological gaps that make the “success” claim unreliable.
Key problems include the report’s use of rainfall estimates from Windy.com, a platform that displays modelled rather than measured precipitation, and the absence of units for the reported PM2.5 and PM10 figures, leaving readers unsure whether values are concentrations (µg/m³) or index numbers. Without units or clear averaging periods, the numbers cannot be interpreted or compared to national standards.
The report also highlights air-quality improvements between 2pm and 5pm after seeding, but that time window coincides with Delhi’s regular daily improvement in air quality as temperatures rise and boundary-layer mixing increases. Hourly data from official monitoring stations show an identical afternoon dip in pollutants across multiple days, making it impossible to isolate an effect attributable to seeding.
