UAE turns to cloud seeding to make rain

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The United Arab Emirates is striving to capture every drop of rain it can wring from the clouds that pass over the nation.

In the blazing sunshine at Al Ain airport, a twin-propeller Beechcraft stands ready to fly into action at a moment's notice on a cloud-seeding mission.

The plane is armed with salt flares that are fired into a promising cloud to increase condensation and hopefully trigger a downpour.

The UAE's annual rainfall stands at 78mm, more than 15 times less than what falls in an average year in the United Kingdom.

The UAE's National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS) runs the so-called cloud seeding programme.

Its Abu Dhabi-based forecasters monitor weather radars to tell pilots when to take off on rainfall-inducing sorties.

"As soon as they see some convective cloud formations, they launch us on a flight to investigate" to try "to seed the cloud", said Mark Newman, deputy chief pilot at NCMS.

Speaking at the base for a fleet of four Beechcraft King Air C90 aircraft, Newman said summer is usually the busiest season.

That is when clouds form over the eastern Al-Hajar mountains which deflect the warm wind blowing from the Gulf of Oman.

The strength of the updraft determines the number of flares fired as the plane explores the base of the forming cloud.

"If we've got a mild updraft, we usually burn one or two flares. If we've got a good updraft, we burn four, sometimes six flares into the cloud," he said.

Not all seeded clouds produce rainfall, but it happens often, said Newman.

"It is fantastic... As soon as there is rain, there is a lot of excitement. We can hear the guys in the office are happy," he said.

The effectiveness of cloud-seeding in increasing rainfall has often been questioned.

However, US ski resorts in Colorado reportedly use the method to induce heavier snowfall.

China also used rain dispersal technology to ensure dry weather during the opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

To cover its surging water needs, driven by rapid economic growth and a large influx of foreigners, the UAE has resorted mainly to desalination. The country has 33 desalination plants that provided 42% of its needs, according to a 2013 report by the environment and water ministry.

But groundwater represents 44% of used water, putting immense pressure on the country's reserves.

Another 14% of water usage comes from treated wastewater, mostly for irrigation and landscaped green areas.

Rain triggered through cloud seeding is much cheaper than desalinated water, according to Omar al-Yazeedi, head of research at NCMS.

In 2010, four days of heavy rain induced by cloud seeding brought
downpours equivalent to the nine-year output of a single desalination plant in Abu Dhabi, he said.

"This shows that there is a huge amount of water that could be tapped... It is a source that can't be ignored," he said.

Studies show that cloud seeding can increase the amount of rain by between 5 and 70%, depending on the quality of the clouds, he said.