China's independently-developed Wing Loong large civil unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has played an important role in weather modification to aid the country's drought-mitigation and quake-relief efforts.

As the weather-modification model of the Wing Loong civil UAV family, the Wing Loong-2H has recently completed a series of successive missions by supporting air sounding and artificial rain enhancement in southwest China's Sichuan Province, said the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country's leading planemaker.

The innovative use of the large UAV in drought relief missions is attributable to its unique capabilities and performance in enhancing effective precipitation, the AVIC said.

Drought-relief operation

Many regions of China have been hit by persistent drought and heatwaves this summer. The country is making all-out drought and disaster relief efforts to ensure people's lives and property.

This round of innovative UAV weather-modification operations on the plateau region demonstrated Wing Loong-2H UAV's high reliability and strong environmental adaptability, the AVIC said.

The innovative applications have shown that large-sized UAVs can help boost effective precipitation and alleviate drought. They have also demonstrated the importance of artificial weather modification work in safeguarding people's lives, food security, and ecological safety.

This can be deemed a milestone in the field of weather modification in China. It has expanded large UAVs' application potentials, and generated data and experience for meteorological work, the AVIC added.

The Wing Loong-2H took off from Hongyuan Airport, located at an altitude of over 3,500 meters, in Sichuan's Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. During hours of continuous flights, the UAV performed set weather-modification missions, with all its systems operating stably.

This drought-relief operation was conducted with joint efforts of the AVIC, the Weather Modification Centre under the China Meteorological Administration, Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Service and other units.

These operations were carried out in a high-plateau region with high altitude, low temperature and low pressure, bringing challenges to both personnel and equipment.

Besides, these operations were conducted in complex and variable weather conditions with changing wind speed and direction, and thick clouds.

Quake-relief emergency communications

Moreover, the Wing Loong-2H has also been deployed to support emergency communications to help with relief work following a magnitude-6.8 earthquake in southwestern Sichuan Province, according to the AVIC.

The large UAV flew into the preset mission area at 6:44 p.m. September 5, helping establish an airborne communication network and sent real-time images of the quake-hit areas.

Equipped with an electro-optical/infrared pod, the UAV is also designed with a SAR, an aerial camera, an emergency communication pod and an emergency transmit drop pod.

Apart from serving drought relief, diverse models of the Wing Loong large civil UAV family have shown their capabilities and adaptability in serving various missions such as telecommunications restoration, marine meteorological observation, and ecological protection, among others.

To better serve the country's demands, the AVIC said it will further enhance design, manufacturing and service capacities in the UAV industry so as to bolster progress in socio-economic development and safeguard people's livelihoods. 

(With input from Xinhua)