USDA’s aerial electrostatics: patents, field evidence and facility fit
A real research lineage to include in the evidence map and patent review. Its aircraft methods and spray measurements have a specific relationship to FogLab.
Read the note ↗
ELECTROSTATIC FOG & VISIBILITY RESEARCH
Electrostatic fog.
A clearer question.
Weatherhill is planning an in-house FogLab: an instrument to test whether electrical collectors capture fog droplets and make air measurably clearer. The next step is to build and qualify the measurement.
268 papers & preprints. 15 working tools. One experiment to build. Read the protocol ↓
FOGLAB / PROPOSED RESEARCH INSTRUMENT
CONCEPT ARTWORK · EXPERIMENTS NOT YET RUN
CONCEPT ARTWORK · EXPERIMENTS NOT YET RUN
01 / THE SCIENCE
Start with a question.
From a single charged droplet to a cloud field. Follow a mechanism, inspect its evidence and find the measurement that would settle the next question.
FIELD 01
Fog & visibility
What is between us and a clear view?
35 papersFIELD 02Electrostatic collection
Using electricity to capture tiny fog droplets.
18 papersFIELD 03Atmospheric electricity
How does charge move through air?
23 papersFIELD 04Charged droplets
How much charge changes a droplet?
18 papersFIELD 05Cloud seeding & rain
When can a rainfall change be attributed?
30 papersFIELD 08Metrology & trials
Can the measurement carry the claim?
24 papers
02 / OUR FIRST PRODUCTFogLab.
FogLab.
A measured first step.
Electrostatic fog collection uses electricity to draw tiny water droplets onto a collecting surface. FogLab will test whether that makes the air measurably clearer than the same collector with its power off.
We plan to build FogLab in-house. WX-FOG-001 defines the proposed comparison; the build brief turns its qualification requirements into instrument and engineering decisions. Direct optics, wet particle size, charge, airflow and whole-system energy must agree.
IN-HOUSE BUILD PLANNED · NO EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS YET
03 / THE WORKBENCH
Tools for the next question.
Useful calculations, visible assumptions and exportable results. Run them in your browser. Bring your own data to the spectrum and paired-trial tools.
TRY IT / VISIBILITY & EXTINCTION
What does transmission tell you?
Move the measured transmission along a 10 m optical path. Watch the inferred extinction and 5% optical range change.
A homogeneous attenuation model. Wavelength-specific range unless the WMO spectral requirements are met.
Open the complete tool ↗Optical workbenchLIVE CALCULATION
134.3Derived optical range · m
0.0223Extinction · m⁻¹
Optics
Droplet spectrum explorer
Compare number, water mass and approximate extinction across wet droplet sizes.
EngineeringFlow & collector area
Find face velocity and idealized fan input for a supplied area.
EngineeringWhole-system energy ledger
Keep air throughput, recovered water and electricity in the same ledger.
ElectrostaticsCharged droplet drift
Compare ideal electrical drift and gravitational settling in still air.
ExperimentsPaired fog-trial analysis
Analyze transit-aligned upstream/downstream means across independent days.
ExperimentsBalanced trial schedule
Export a reproducible, balanced C/D order across preparation days.
04 / THE RESEARCH NOTEBOOK
Read the reasoning.
Short, source-linked notes on the evidence, the corrections and the decisions shaping the first experiment.
Why collected water does not prove clearer air
A collector can change the water balance and the optical signal by different amounts. A visibility product has to measure both.
Read the note ↗What the powered-versus-passive collector test measures
The D/C comparison asks whether electrical operation adds an optical benefit to the same collector under matched conditions.
Read the note ↗THE WEATHERHILL APPROACH
A useful result needs a defined quantity, a fair comparison and a record someone else can inspect. That is how a physical possibility becomes an engineering decision.
JOIN THE FOUNDING SCIENTISTSExceptional science.
Exceptional science.
A full life.
We are seeking scientists whose original work, judgment and care can shape the first experiment. Your family is more important than work. That principle belongs in how we plan research, recognize contributions and support the people doing it.
Explore the proposed founding-scientist compensation, family benefits and evidence-based selection process.