Experiment of supercooled fog dispersal at Sarajevo Airport and skiing slopes of the 14th Winter Olympic Games

During December 12, 1983 through March 1, 1984 of the 14th Winter Olympic Games at Sarajevo, supercooled fog dispersal experiments were carried out at the airport and over the skiing slopes using simple, new ground-based liquid propane seeding devices. After successful preliminary tests in December and the first half of January, a fog dispersal operation was conducted operationally at the Sarajevo airport. A seeding network of a combination of stationary and mobile liquid propane dispensers was used. Eleven seedings were performed, nine of them being successful (visibility above the required minimum) and two partially successful. Especially significant were the seeding operations at the airport on February 6 and 7, 1984 (the day before the opening of the Olympic Games) enabling the landing and taking off of 30 airplanes, permitting the scheduled opening of the games. Following preliminary confirmation of seeding effect on clouds over the skiing slopes on Mt. Bjelasnica, the visibility reducing clouds were effectively cleared during the official downhill competition on February 16, 1984.