Experts from around the world will gather in Abu Dhabi next week for a key meeting on weather modification and water security.
The International Rain Enhancement Forum starts on January 28 and the three-day event features more than 50 high-profile global experts, policymakers and researchers.
Sessions this year will focus on how artificial intelligence can improve cloud seeding, the potential of drones in weather modification and bolstering water security.
The gathering, the seventh edition of the event, is being hosted by the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology through its UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP).
“The event provides a global platform to discuss rain enhancement science and technology and examine solutions to tackle water security,” Alya Al Mazrouei, director of UAEREP, told The National.
“It brings together local and international experts from multiple sectors to address pressing water security challenges.”
Water security in focus
The Middle East and North Africa region has major challenges in water security. According to UN data from 2018, the region has 11 of the 17 most water-stressed countries in the world.
Figures from the World Bank say about two billion people around the world lack access to safely managed drinking water.
Ms Al Mazrouei said these statistics underline the “urgent need” for weather modification experts and the global scientific community to tackle the issue.
“The forum serves as an important platform … to address pressing water security challenges,” Ms Al Mazrouei said.
UAEREP, which is overseen by the NCM, was founded in 2015 to try to address these issues by harnessing the best ideas from around the world to boost rainfall.
Since 2015, it has awarded Dh82.6 million in grants to researchers around the world.
Previous winners include efforts to use drones to seed clouds and the creation of artificial updrafts in clouds that can help in rain enhancement, and developing algorithms to pinpoint clouds with potential for yielding more rain.
The next cycle of awards will be launched on the event’s first day. Researchers from around the world have from January 28 to March 20, 2025, to submit their proposals. The awards will be announced in 2026.
UAE at forefront of responsible cloud seeding efforts
The UAE, an arid country that receives on average about 100mm of rain a year, has been at the forefront of cloud seeding efforts to address water security, help agriculture, and find another source to costly desalination.
When experts see a cloud that is suitable, a plane is dispatched to “seed” the cloud, typically with salt as it naturally attracts water. The objective is not to make it rain but enhance it.
Ms Al Mazrouei said studies had shown that cloud seeding was “viable and cost-effective” and had the potential to increase rainfall by about “10 to 25 per cent” but it “differs according to conditions”. She said the UAE’s programme used environmentally friendly materials. More research is needed into the topic.
Dispersing the myths
Last April, when the UAE recorded its record heaviest rainfall many speculated that seeding could have played a role in the historic deluge.
The NCM told The National then no cloud seeding missions took place during the day of the torrential rain. It has previously said several times that it is too dangerous to use seeding planes during severe weather.
Experts also said that climate change also was likely to have intensified the storms.
Ms Al Mazrouei said some “myths” had circulated as seeding does not take place during extreme weather events.
“Before any operation, we see the water cells in our radars,” she said. “Then a decision is taken. When you have extreme [weather] … you don’t interfere.”
The forum runs in Abu Dhabi from January 28 to 30.
