UAE to see more frequent rainfall in next few years

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UAE to see more frequent rainfall in next few years

Dubai - In 2018, a total of 176 cloud seeding operations were carried out.

By Sarwat Nasir

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Published: Sat 23 Feb 2019, 8:46 PM

Last updated: Sun 24 Feb 2019, 7:43 AM

The UAE could be seeing more frequent rainfall in the next few years, as researchers in the country are working on ways to make cloud seeding operations much more efficient.
Currently, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) carries out over 100 cloud seeding flights per year, where they shoot salt flares into clouds to enhance rain.
Though, researchers at the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement (UAEREP) are working on ways to help these operations produce better results.
Since the beginning of this year, the NCM has conducted 15 cloud seeding flights. Khaleej Times previously reported how the rain over the UAE on February 17 was made possible by the four flights the NCM had done that day.
In 2018, a total of 176 cloud seeding operations were carried out - a figure that seems relatively high to how many times it actually rained the entire year, even though the NCM has reported a 30 per cent increase in rainfall that year to previous years.
Over at the UAEREP, Professor Linda Zou's research results has shown how cloud seeding can be improved.
Her nanotechnology-based cloud seeding materials have already been produced, tested and evaluated. They'll help increase the number of rain droplets by up to three times their original size, at 100 per cent humidity rate, compared to conventional cloud seeding materials. Zou, a professor at Khalifa University, is one of the three research grant awardees by the UAEREP.
Alya Al Mazroui, director of the UAEREP, told Khaleej Times: "The nanotechnology is very useful and this is what we're working on to try and implement it in our current cloud seeding. It'll be a huge breakthrough. It's not just for the UAE but for the whole scientific community in the rain enhancement field. The efficiency is three times more than the current material."
Two patents have been filed for the nanotechnology seeding material, and an examination of potential methods for mass producing the material is currently ongoing.
The UAEREP currently has study proposals from nine research teams, who are working towards producing breakthrough inventions that can enhance rain and produce fresh water. The results of the first three projects were revealed last month.
Al Mazroui revealed that they are working towards integrating all nine projects into one model.
"This unique model will ultimately help refine and propose a cloud seeding system. This project, generally, aims to improve the weather forecasting accuracy by leveraging the research findings of the projects," she said.
Another research results that were announced was of Masataka Murakami, a professor from Japan's Nagoya University.
He has developed a numerical modeling system, which can identify rainfall clouds to improve the accuracy of weather forecasts. It will also increase the efficiency of the UAE's mapping operations by increasing the accuracy of cloud targeting. This will help in reducing the number of flight hours and the associated cost.
The third one is by Professor Volker Wulfmeyer, the managing director and Chair of Physics and Meteorology at the Institute of Physics and Meteorology of the University of Hohenheim in Germany.
He has developed a high-resolution 3D numerical weather prediction model used for the identification of optimal locations of land cover and terrain modifications to increase rainfall.
His projects also aim to help the UAE achieve its climate objectives and CO2 reduction requirements by the Paris Agreement.
The study of the next three research proposals will be carried out over a period of another three years.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com


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