Exploring UAE Artificial Rain Creation Linked to Dubai Weather Chaos

UAE Artificial Rain Creation Linked to Dubai Weather Chaos: On Tuesday the heavy downpour of rain triggered widespread flooding through the desert region. The whole city was drenched in the flood of airports, roads, shopping malls, and everything. Videos went viral on social media "X" showing water leaking through the roofs of the malls, also airlines were fully flooded with water.

Several families were stranded inside the terminal due to overcrowding, and some people were turned away. More than 4.7 inches of rain fell before 4 pm, matching the average rainfall for the year, according to witnesses.

The whole country has gone into a pause mode since the storms, as everything was disrupted by the heavy rain. Although rain is not that frequent in Dubai, heat and aridity are trademarks of Dubai.

Reports say that the city experienced 142 millimeters of rain which far exceeds the average annual rainfall in Dubai which is 97.7 millimeters at its airport, the temperature rising as high as 50 degrees Celsius in summer.

The UAE pioneered solutions to combat this pressure during the summer by utilizing cloud seeding, which enhances precipitation through the generation of artificial rain.

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How Cloud Seeding Helps UAE?

By introducing "seeding agents" into clouds, cloud seeding stimulates the condensation process and triggers rainfall. A weather forecaster at the NCM monitors atmospheric conditions and identifies suitable clouds to seed based on precipitation patterns.

Cloud seeding was first used by the UAE in 1982. As the Gulf nation began to develop its artificial rain program in the early 2000s, it collaborated with NCAR in Colorado, Witwatersrand University in South Africa, and NASA to conduct scientific and technical research.

Despite concerns over the environmental impact and safety of cloud seeding, the company has taken steps to ensure its operations are safe and sustainable.

Check Out: Dubai International Airport Issues Travel Advisory Ahead Of Adverse Weather Conditions

What is UAE's Rain Enhancement Program?

As part of UAE's Rain Enhancement Program, scientists analyzed the physical and chemical characteristics of the UAE's atmosphere, particularly aerosols and pollutants.

Using hygroscopic flares, the UAE's Rain Enhancement Program promotes cloud growth and augments rainfall by generating condensation around salt material nuclei.

"The NCM has established a national network of 86 automatic weather stations (AWOS) for weather monitoring, six weather radars covering the entire UAE, and one upper air station. The Centre has also created climate databases and assisted in the development of high precision Numerical Weather Predictions and simulation software in the UAE," the UAEREP's description of the process reads.

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