Abu Dhabi forum examines new ways to boost rainfall

The latest methods to help boost rainfall in some of the world’s driest regions will be examined at a forum that opened at the 2018 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week yesterday.

Held over three days, the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science’s second international forum provides a platform for discussion about the latest research and potential innovations in the quest for global water security, Wam reported.

Every year, the country gives substantial funds to scientists and researchers to help develop new ways to boost rainfall.

“Over the next three days, the forum will see the exchange and discussion of some of the most cutting-edge ideas with the potential to boost water security for vulnerable populations around the world,” said Dr Abdulla Al Mandous, director of the National Centre of Meteorology.

“Through its commitment to leading international collaboration on this vitally important challenge, the UAE is again showing its readiness to promote the innovation needed to make a real difference.”

Since it was launched by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, the rain enhancement programme has established itself as a leading international focal point for advances based on the analysis and the implementation of new technology developed to improve knowledge of weather, clouds and rain.

Researchers from the UAE, Japan and Germany who were awarded funds in the programme’s first cycle are undertaking projects on the use of nanotechnology to speed up condensation, the potential of algorithms to enhance knowledge of cloud characteristics and rain, and land cover modification to enhance rainfall.

Projects led by those who received funds in the second cycle – researchers from the US, Finland and UK – are working on using ice production processes in cumulus clouds, quantifying atmospheric aerosols in rain enhancement, and analysing the electrical properties of clouds.