The first goal is to increase rainfall or snowfall in areas experiencing long-term drought or seasonal water shortages. Silver dioxide (AgI) or dry ice (CO₂) is sprayed into clouds to increase the number of condensation nuclei, causing more water vapor to be converted into water droplets or ice crystals.

The second goal is to protect objects on the surface, such as crops, from hail. It alters the microscopic physical processes within hail-producing clouds such as cumulonimbus, resulting in smaller and less abundant hail formation. It prevents individual hailstones from growing large by forming many ice nuclei in the cloud at an early stage, allowing moisture to disperse more effectively. However, several studies have shown that it is challenging to reduce hail size through seeding, and that complex weather conditions can cause more serious hail.

The third goal is to remove supercooled fog from airports and major transportation routes, thereby improving the visibility and safety of operations and transportation. The fog is removed by spraying dry ice or liquid propane onto the ground or from aircraft to freeze the supercooled water droplets and cause them to fall.

The last goal is to remove fine dust and pollutants from the air through artificial rain in certain cities with severe air pollution. Rainfall induced through cloud seeding creates a ‘wet scavenging’ effect that washes away pollutant particles in the air, improving air quality.