Saudi Arabia begins ‘environmentally friendly’ cloud-seeding programme to increase rainfall
A cloud-seeding programme is under way in Saudi Arabia, with the first flights taking place in the central regions of Riyadh and Qassim, and Hail in the north-west.
Abdulrahman Al Fadhli, the kingdom’s Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and chairman of the National Centre of Meteorology, announced the start of the operation on Tuesday.
The process uses seeding particles – usually consisting of salt crystals – to induce more rain from clouds.
Salt attracts water particles, which collide to become bigger and then fall as rain.
The size of the particles can have an effect on the amount of rain they generate.
The quantity of the seeding material can also have a bearing, but experts have said that delivering more into the clouds does not necessarily lead to more rain.
Saudi Arabia is one of the driest countries in the world and rainfall in the kingdom does not usually exceed 100 millimetres a year.
Ayman Ghulam, chief executive of the National Centre of Meteorology and supervisor of the programme, said the operations room for the project was established yesterday at the National Centre of Meteorology in Riyadh.
The first flights over the capital began the cloud-seeding process successfully, he said.
Mr Ghulam said experts would study the scheduled seeding operations and the amount of rain they produce, with the centre expected to issue regular progress reports.
The aircraft used in the operations are designed to sow “environmentally friendly” stimulating materials in the atmosphere, he said.
The second phase of the programme will cover the south-western regions of Asir, Al Baha and Taif.
The cloud-seeding programme was launched as a result of the Middle East Green Initiative Summit last year.
The talks were announced by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as part of the Vision 2030 strategy.