Developments in probability and mathematical statistics generated by studies in meteorology and weather modification

Invariably, a persistent study of a category of natural phenomena generates novel mathematical developments, occasionally including sophisticated mathematical concepts. Of the mathematical developments generated by meteorology and efforts to modify weather, the most sophisticated seems to be the concept of characteristic functional. It was first published by A. N. Kolmogorov to be unnoticed for twelve years. It was reintroduced in 1947 by L. M. LeCam, inspired by studies of meteorology. Substantially less sophisticated mathematical concepts stem from cloud seeding experiments. They include (i) “outlier prone” and “outlier resistant” distributions,(ii) two mechanisms of response to cloud seeding. and (iii) the concept of variability of response to cloudseeding.