Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates received an unprecedented 254mm (10 inches) of rain in less than 24 hours on Tuesday. This is the highest amount recorded since measurements began in 1949, surpassing the mark set before the country’s establishment in 1971. The recent heavy rains and flooding in the UAE may have been influenced, in part, by cloud seeding efforts.
The UAE government invested more than $20 million in research to start a process called cloud seeding. The Middle East country performs around 1,000 hours of cloud seeding a year. All this is controlled from the National Center of Metrology in Abu Dhabi.
What is Cloud Seeding
In order to address water security issues, cloud seeding efforts began back in 2002. Cloud seeding involves implanting chemicals and tiny particles — often natural salts such as potassium chloride — into the atmosphere to create more rain from clouds.
The have to depend on natural cloud formation for this process to happen. When an area is forecast to have clouds, an aircraft is sent to that location. It goes under the cloud and starts to release the salt. With good updraft (a small-scale current of rising air), salt goes inside the cloud. Eventually, the droplets become bigger and start to rain.
The impact of the precipitation depends on a number of factors. Rainfall effect is dependent on amount of seeding salt, atmospheric conditions, and how prepared the ground is for rains.
The Gulf state’s National Center of Meteorology dispatched seeding planes from Al Ain airport on Monday and Tuesday. What followed was flooding including in critical areas such as the Airport in Dubai. Notably, the UAE government had sent out prior warnings ahead of the heavy rains. Further, it has since urged residents to stay indoors and ordered civil servants to work remotely.
