§ 61-04.1-03 — Definitions

North Dakota § 61-04.1-03

• Jurisdiction: North Dakota
• Title 61: Waters
• Ch. 61-04.1: Weather Modification

Text

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
1. "Controller" refers to any licensee duly authorized in this state to engage in weather
modification operations.
2. "Geographical region" means a geographical area with a contiguous boundary that
may enclose a portion of any county or counties.
3. "Hail suppression" refers to the activation of any process that will reduce, modify,
suppress, eliminate, or soften hail formed in clouds or storms.
4. "Increasing precipitation" refers to the activation of any process that will actually result
in greater amounts of moisture reaching the ground in any area from a cloud or cloud
system than would have occurred naturally.
5. "Initiating precipitation" refers to the process of causing precipitation from clouds which
could not otherwise have occurred naturally or inducing precipitation significantly
earlier than would have occurred naturally.
6. "Operation" means the performance of any weather modification activity undertaken
for the purpose of producing or attempting to produce any form of modifying effect
upon the weather within a limited geographical area or within a limited period of time.
7. "Research and development" means exploration, field experimentation, and extension
of investigative findings and theories of a scientific or technical nature into practical
application for experimental and demonstration purposes, including the experimental
production of models, devices, equipment, materials, and processes.
8. "Weather modification" means and extends to the control, alteration, and amelioration
of weather elements, including man-caused changes in the natural precipitation
process, hail suppression or modification, and alteration of other weather phenomena,
including clouds, temperature, wind direction, and velocity, and the initiating,
increasing, decreasing, and otherwise modifying by artificial methods of precipitation in
the form of rain, snow, hail, mist, or fog through cloud seeding, electrification, or by
other means to provide immediate practical benefits.

9. "Weather modification authority" means the governing body created by a board of
county commissioners under section 61-04.1-22.1, 61-04.1-23, 61-04.1-27,
61-04.1-29, or 61-04.1-31.