ABU DHABI: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has unveiled a new initiative to increase rainfall through advanced cloud-seeding technology, offering grants of up to $1.5 million to scientists working on innovative solutions to address the region’s water scarcity.
The UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) announced that three scientists from the United States, Germany, and Australia have been selected for the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science. The winners were chosen from 140 proposals submitted by researchers from 48 countries.
Each selected scientist will receive up to $1.5 million over three years, with a maximum of $550,000 per year, to explore environmentally friendly methods of improving artificial rainfall.
The scientists chosen for the program include Dr. Michael Dixon from Echo Science Works in the US, Professor Linda Zou from Victoria University in Australia, and Dr. Oliver Branch from the University of Hohenheim in Germany. Their research will focus on the use of artificial intelligence, new cloud-seeding materials, and land-based techniques to optimize cloud formation and rainfall production. UAE officials highlighted that AI technology will be crucial in identifying the most suitable clouds to enhance efficiency.
Given that the UAE experiences very little natural rainfall and depends heavily on desalinated seawater, cloud-seeding has become a key strategy to augment the country’s water supply. The UAE already conducts hundreds of cloud-seeding flights annually.
This new research initiative aims to bolster agriculture, strengthen water reserves, and improve long-term water security, not only within the UAE but across the broader region.
