UAE to award $1.5m grants for projects to boost rainfall
The UAE will this month award its latest grants for rain enhancement projects.
Awards of up to $1.5 million each will be issued under the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science.
The funds are to be distributed over three years and will aim to bolster water security.
Proposals for this cycle were whittled down to eight submitted by 64 researchers, scientists and experts affiliated with 35 institutions in 10 countries – including the UAE.
Projects were assessed by global experts in areas including weather modification, cloud physics, hydrometeorology and artificial intelligence. It marks the fifth grant cycle and the winners will be announced at an event in Abu Dhabi on January 23.
“The UAE remains committed to its strategic objectives of promoting environmental sustainability and bolstering water security both locally and globally,” said Dr Abdulla Al Mandous, director general of the National Centre of Meteorology and president of the World Meteorological Organisation.
“The ceremony announcing the awardees of UAEREP’s fifth cycle adds further momentum to these efforts, closely following the successful hosting of Cop28 by the UAE.
“This provides an additional opportunity for local, regional and international experts and research institutions to collaborate and contribute to the pursuit of water sustainability through cutting-edge scientific research and advanced technologies.”
The research programme was launched in 2015 under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, in an effort to address water security challenges.
Previous winners include a project to use drones in cloud seeding; an initiative to develop algorithms to identify clouds capable of creating rain; and a plan to use nanotechnology to accelerate water condensation, increasing potential for rain.
About 2.3 billion people around the world live in waterstressed countries, including 733 million who live in high and critically water-stressed countries, the UN said.
Water scarcity is a serious challenge in the Middle East and North Africa.
On average, the UAE receives less than 100mm of rain a year.
Alya Al Mazroui, director of the research programme, said innovation was crucial to developing new ways to tackle water security challenges.
“Over the past years, we have been dedicated to providing support and funding for a diverse range of innovative technologies,” she said.
About 733 million people globally live in high and critically water-stressed countries, according to UN figures