ABU DHABI – The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science has met with a team of German researchers led by Professor Volker Wulfmeyer, one of the program’s first cycle awardees, to discuss the latest progress made on a project developing improved modeling and observational capabilities to enable the better understanding of cloud processes.
The project was discussed during a meeting at the National Center of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), which is overseeing the management and implementation of the program. Alya Al Mazroui, Manager of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, headed a delegation of program’s team members and senior NCMS representatives that met Professor Wulmeyer’s team.
Dr Abdullah Al Mandous, Director of the NCMS, said: “The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science has been an outstanding success in bringing together world‐leading experts on atmospheric sciences. We are making effort to support the successful completion of these innovative projects to help enhance the scientific community’s understanding of the processes underlying rain enhancement, and, ultimately, aid the common international quest for water security.”
Alya Al Mazroui, Manager of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, said: “We are delighted to meet Professor Wulmeyer’s team to discuss the status of his project and explore further ways in which the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science can support and ensure the success of this highly valuable research, especially in these months leading to their summer campaign in the UAE. We are confident that the new knowledge on clouds, precipitation and land features gathered by Professor Wulmeyer’s team will provide an invaluable contribution to Abu Dhabi’s and the UAE’s emergence as an international center of excellence in rain enhancement science.”
A highly-regarded expert in high-resolution weather forecasting and regional climate simulations, land-atmosphere interaction, and 3D active remote sensing, Professor Volker Wulfmeyer was one of the three awardees sharing a total grant of US$5 million awarded in the first cycle of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science. He is currently the Managing Director and Chair of Physics and Meteorology at the Institute of Physics and Meteorology of the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart. In addition to exploring convergence zones induced by complex atmospheric flows and how they affect the formation and location of clouds, Professor Wulfmeyer’s team will also examine possible linkages between land surface features and rainfall occurrence.
Professor Wulfmeyer outlined the latest developments in his team’s project, primarily the setting up a new station for measuring heat transport for land surfaces, soil temperatures and moisture and incoming and outgoing radiation at Al Ain airport. The measurements recorded by the new station will be the first of their kind in the UAE. Professor Wulfmeyer’s team is also currently preparing a field campaign at a mountain site in the UAE for operation in the summer of this year.
The German team is improving its understanding of local cloud and precipitation formation processes through technologies such as Lidar and radar, along with techniques including ultra-high-resolution modeling, data assimilation, new 3-D scanning remote sensing systems for wind and cloud, and land surface and terrain modification to induce the development of clouds and precipitation. Regarding the project’s initial research results, Professor Wulmeyer informed the meeting at NCMS that weather forecast systems employed by the project performed very well in terms of predicting the onset and evolution of rainfall over Al Hajar mountains in the east of the UAE.
Launched by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs of the UAE and overseen by the UAE National Center of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science offers US$5 million in grant assistance to encourage scientists and researchers to explore new horizons in developing rain enhancement science and technology.
Other work led by the program’s first cycle awardees involves two ground-breaking projects: an investigation of the use of nanotechnology to accelerate water condensation and potentially boost rain enhancement, and a study developing innovative algorithms using remote sensors to find the clouds most suitable for seeding and study the frequency in which they appear. The program’s second cycle awardees are leading projects dealing with the potential for leveraging ice production processes in cumulus clouds, a quantification of the role of atmospheric aerosols in precipitation enhancement, and an analysis of the effect of electrical charges on rain bearing cloud.
The real results already achieved demonstrate the UAE Program for Rain Enhancement Science’s position as a global focal point for advanced research. The program is set to move from strength to strength in facilitating the active knowledge transfers needed to ensure sustainable development and economic growth in those regions of the world vulnerable to aridity and water shortages. — SG
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