Rain-enhancement programme receives 200 research proposals

The UAE’s Research Programme for Rain Enhancement has this year received 201 submissions for its third cycle of grants.

More than 710 scientists and researchers, affiliated with 316 institutions across 68 countries, have sent in their ideas to enhance the country’s rainfall and water security.

The programme offers a grant of US$5 million (Dh18.3m) to be shared by up to five winning research proposals.

Organisers recently held meetings with leading British researchers working on climatology and meteorology as part of its European roadshow this week.

Among them was Prof Giles Harrison of the University of Reading, who was chosen in the programme’s second cycle.

Prof Harrison’s project is based on the natural occurrence of electrical charges and their potential to modify water droplets.

“Understanding the role of electric charge in the generation of rain could boost precipitation levels without the use of artificial chemicals,” he said.

“The UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science has already played a major role in allowing international science networks to flourish and identify new frontiers in cloud seeding science and technology.”

The programme was launched by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs in 2015 and managed by the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology.