The South-to-North Water Diversion Project, a major river that runs through the north and south of our country, can be described as a veritable "Yangtze River Manchurian and Han send white water";Now, there is another "heavenly river" that is poised to fall from the sky and bring sweet water to the arid area.
This "Tianhe", also known as the "Sky Canal", today, we will unveil this mystery and interpret this unprecedented grand project.
In fact, as early as the fifties and sixties of the last century, after the great leader inspected Huang Han, he put forward the grand idea of "irrigating the north with the water of the Yangtze River".
Sixty years later, this idea has finally become a reality, and artificial waterways have brought the water of the rivers in the south to the arid places of the north through the Linglong Project.
In 1952, he inspected the banks of the Yellow River and the Han River, and personally felt the contrast between the lack of water in the north and the abundant water resources in the south.
In 1958, the "Report on the Planning Outline of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project" was officially issued, which put forward the idea of "unblocking the rivers, adjusting the amount of water, turning according to the mountains, and gradually forming vertical and horizontal trunk lines".
In the following decades, through countless field surveys and demonstrations, the "four vertical and three horizontal" south-to-north water diversion system was gradually clarified, and the three main water diversion routes in the east, central and west were formed.
Today, the eastern and central routes have been completed and opened to water, transporting nearly 50 billion cubic meters of water in the Yangtze River basin every year, effectively alleviating the water shortage in North China and Northeast China.
The project hub canal runs through the north and south, the scale of the project is huge, the amount of water is huge, it is actually the world's largest, the south-to-north water diversion can be called one of the greatest water conservancy projects in China at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century.
However, the Northwest Plateau is still "far away", and it is difficult to reach the South-to-North Water Diversion.
As a result, scientists have proposed a new way of diverting water from the "sky", and through meteorology and air transportation, to achieve a larger range and more efficient water supply.
What?You say it's not scientific?Is this a "groundless" fantasy?
Don't worry, listen to me slowly.
In fact, in meteorological theory, there are certain specific airflow channels and systems that can carry large amounts of water vapor through the air, and these are called "atmospheric rivers".
The so-called atmospheric rivers refer to long and narrow air flow areas with high water vapor content between the troposphere and the troposphere.
These air currents act like rivers and can transport large amounts of water vapor.
There are the following mechanisms for the formation of atmospheric rivers:
Evaporation from the water surface provides water vapour**, tropical and tropical oceans, lakes, and vegetation provide constant water vapour, and strong updrafts bring water vapour rapidly into the air.
In the tropics, for example, strong convective activity can rapidly carry near-surface water vapour into the upper troposphere.
The guiding effect of horizontal winds forms airflow channels, and the westerly winds and geostrophic winds at high altitudes can guide the advection movement of water vapor to form atmospheric rivers.
The lock-in effect of mountain topography maintains airflow, and some atmospheric rivers move along the topography, such as contour lines to lock airflow channels.
The use and guidance of these atmospheric rivers for cross-regional water vapor transport is the goal of the "Tianhe Project".
Specifically, it is necessary to monitor the water vapor and flow patterns in the atmosphere through satellites and radars, and find atmospheric rivers with high water vapor content and stable flow direction.
This requires meteorological satellites equipped with infrared and microwave detectors that can monitor atmospheric water vapor distribution and large-scale movements in real time.
Ground-based cloud maps, wind profile radar, and high-altitude sounding balloons can also provide detailed meteorological parameters to determine the channels of the gas river.
Then, a certain amount of artificial influence is exerted on the water vapor ** to increase the water vapor production and input into these atmospheric rivers.
This can be done by adding a water surface evaporation system in areas with a large water area, and increasing the evaporation of the water surface by means of maintenance ponds and scattered waterIt is also possible to use the water transport characteristics of vegetation on land to increase the amount of soil moisture extracted by vegetation, thereby providing more water vapor.
These systems need to be economically oriented, with sunny, well-ventilated areas and water vapor condensation at the destination using jets and chemical reactions.
Procoagulant nuclear agents such as ethylene glycol and solid carbon dioxide can be released by means of aircraft or rockets to help supersaturate the water vapor in the air and form cloud droplets.
This artificial induction requires the determination of the optimal construction area and timing based on the path, time, and water vapor content of atmospheric rivers.
If this series of operations is systematically implemented, it is possible to form a stable cross-regional water vapor transport and precipitation pattern, which can achieve the effect of alleviating local drought.
Sounds incredible, right?In fact, this is just a scientific extension of meteorological operations.
Just like through land reclamation, it is not entirely impossible to "play with the atmosphere" if it is scientifically sound and appropriate human influence is applied.
Of course, this does not mean that the "Tianhe Project" is a piece of cake.
It is a huge project that is more difficult than the ancient construction of the Great Wall, and the investment alone is as high as 250 billion yuan!
It is important to know that regional artificial rain enhancement experiments are very complex, and it took more than ten years to achieve initial results, and it is difficult to dispatch atmospheric water vapor across the country.
There's still a long way to go.
First of all, it is difficult for satellites and radars to comprehensively and accurately grasp the direction of atmospheric rivers.
This is mainly related to complex changes in atmospheric circulation.
It's like driving on the highway, you can't clearly see the road in front of you, and you can only drive forward with experience
At present, the temporal and spatial resolution of satellite detection is limited, and it is not possible to monitor atmospheric rivers in real timeThere are also blind spots in the coverage of the radar network.
This brings great difficulty to large-scale water vapor dispatch.
Secondly, the water vapor transport process is extremely complex, and any deviation can lead to the collapse of the conveyor channel.
Water vapor transport is affected by a variety of factors, such as large-scale airflow guidance, terrain locking, updrafting, etc., and these mechanisms are mutually constrained and influenced by each other.
Problems at any one of these links can disrupt a stable water vapor transport channel.
In addition, the precise control of regional and quantitative rainfall is also a major problem.
Current artificial precipitation enhancement technologies cannot accurately define the temporal and spatial distribution of rainfall, which poses a huge challenge to the precise regulation of water resources.
Therefore, in order to achieve efficient, accurate and controllable large-scale cross-regional water vapor transport and precipitation, the road resistance is long
The key to the success of this project is that researchers also need long-term observation and experiments, in-depth study of the evolution of the atmospheric system, and gradually improve the operation plan.
Despite the great difficulty, the concept and potential of the Tianhe Project is clearly exciting, and once completed, it will completely change the pattern of water resources allocation in China and around the world.
The arid region of Northwest China may receive tens of billions of cubic meters of precipitation every year, effectively alleviating the state of water shortage, which is equivalent to injecting a new source of life into Northwest China.
In Gansu, for example, the Tianhe project could increase its annual precipitation by more than 20%, to nearly 65 billion cubic meters, which means that cities such as Wuwei, Zhangye and Jiuquan may say goodbye to long-term water scarcity for the first time.
The ecological environment will also be significantly improved, forming a virtuous water cycle, and the increased precipitation will replenish the gap between groundwater and surface water, restore wetland ecosystems, and enrich species diversity.
Taking the Sanjiangyuan region as an example, the increase in precipitation will improve the grassland ecology and help the reproduction of wild animals such as Tibetan antelopes.
Of course, economic development will also be strengthened, and the output of cotton, wheat and other cash crops in the northwest region may usher in explosive growth.
Taking wheat as an example, the Tianhe project could increase production by more than 30% and ensure national food security.
In addition, tourism will also benefit, and all kinds of ecotourism are expected to develop rapidly.
Compared with the South-to-North Water Diversion, the Tianhe Project bypasses the complex terrain transportation problem, diverts water more efficiently, eliminates thousands of kilometers of artificial canals, and directly transports water by air, which is expected to increase the efficiency of water resource allocation by about 40%.
Compared with seawater desalination, it is also more environmentally friendly and economical.
There is no need to build a large-scale desalination plant, and the operating cost is greatly reduced.
Overall, the Tianhe project kills three birds with one stone, which not only increases the amount of water in the northwest, but also improves the ecology and promotes economic development.
It can be said that it is expected to become the ultimate solution to the water problem in our country and even in the world.
Of course, foreign scholars also have a lot of complaints about this.
Some scientists assert that this is pure delusion;Some environmentalists are concerned that it could affect the climate pattern ......These concerns are not entirely unfounded.
However, on the road of rational scientific exploration, there will always be people who complain that "the road is too far" and "the sky is too dark".
But the footsteps of the predecessors have never stopped, and finally opened up a bright road.
Today, the Tianhe project is still difficult to break through, but the rising sun is ahead, strive forward, and always come to the land of warm sun!