Weatherhill airport program · Published 14 October 2026 · Source-linked research, prepared with AI assistance. No airport trial results are reported.
What the mechanism does
In electrostatic fog collection, an electrical system charges suspended droplets and creates forces that direct them toward a collection surface. Damak and Varanasi's 2018 experiments examined this process using wires and meshes, alongside a physical model. The work provides a foundation for studying droplet capture.
Our airport research question begins where a collection demonstration ends. The proposed system must be evaluated as part of an open environment: fog moves, wind changes, droplets replenish the test volume and surfaces become wet. These factors determine whether a laboratory effect has a useful application.
Efficiency needs a denominator
A collector study published in the January 2022 issue of Chemical Engineering Science reported collection efficiency above 90% for its apparatus and conditions. That result describes the experiment's collection metric. It does not establish that a similar fraction of fog could be removed from an airport, or that an operating runway would gain corresponding visibility.
Every Weatherhill evaluation should state what enters the denominator: water carried through a defined inlet, droplets crossing a collection area, or an independently measured atmospheric quantity. Clear definitions prevent a strong laboratory result from turning into an unsupported claim about a much larger system.
Water capture is only one measurement
A useful airport experiment would measure collected water alongside optical extinction, droplet characteristics, airflow and total energy. It would compare powered collection with the same apparatus unpowered and with a background reference. This helps separate electrical effects from the presence of a structure or changes in airflow.
Downstream measurements are equally important. A collector could capture droplets while providing little sustained improvement beyond its immediate vicinity. The test should therefore report distance, duration, variability and failure conditions, including how quickly incoming fog replenishes the treated region.
Design around the airport environment
Before a proposed device reaches an airfield, its engineering assessment must address its physical footprint, electrical isolation, discharge byproducts, drainage, cleaning, weather exposure and compatibility with nearby systems. The assessment should include the entire installation, not just the collection element.
FAA aeronautical studies consider both physical and electromagnetic effects on navigation and communications. For Weatherhill, that makes early specialist review part of the development path. A device that improves a laboratory optical measurement but introduces unacceptable installation or operating constraints is not a successful airport product.
Those requirements belong in the early design brief, where they can influence the experiment before a larger installation is proposed.
The research collaboration we are seeking
We are seeking partners who can help define a relevant use case, provide representative observations and evaluate a bounded experiment. An early collaboration should agree on the hypothesis, instrument methods, control conditions, data rights and criteria for advancing before equipment is installed.
The proposed progression is controlled testing, a representative off-runway setting, and only then consideration of an airport-specific evaluation. Our current aim is to establish whether the mechanism warrants that progression. We do not yet have airport field results, certified equipment or a demonstrated runway-clearing performance claim.
Follow the existing FogLab research program and Weatherhill Evidence Atlas for the broader experimental context.
Questions from airport teams
Is this the same as trying to change an entire storm?
No. This research concerns droplet collection and a potentially local visibility effect. It does not establish control over clouds, rainfall, hail or a regional weather system.
Why does wind matter?
Wind changes the supply of incoming fog and the time droplets spend in a treatment region. The proposed pilot must measure performance across relevant conditions rather than assume a single result transfers.
What would make the research unsuccessful?
An effect that cannot be reproduced, remains too localized, disappears under relevant conditions, consumes excessive resources or cannot meet installation requirements would be a reason to stop or redesign.
Sources & further reading
- Electrostatically driven fog collection using space charge injection ↗MIT / Science Advances · Maher Damak and Kripa K. Varanasi. Science Advances 4(6) (2018), eaao5323. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aao5323. Collector experiments, not an airport deployment.
- Electrostatic fog collection mechanism and design of an electrostatic fog collector with nearly perfect fog collection efficiency ↗Chemical Engineering Science · Yuan Jiang, Renjie Xu, Siru Liu, Guilian Liu and Xiaohong Yan. Chemical Engineering Science 247 (2022), 117034. DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2021.117034. Publisher abstract/highlights support the reported collector result; full text not reviewed for this page.
- Aeronautical Studies — Evaluating Effects on Air Navigation and Communication Facilities ↗Federal Aviation Administration · FAA consideration of physical, electromagnetic and line-of-sight effects on aviation infrastructure.