In a bid to optimise cloud seeding through advanced remote sensing and land cover modification, the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science, UAEREP, held a discussion with Professor Volker Wulfmeyer regarding a project currently under way.

Wulfmeyer, Managing Director and Chair of Physics and Meteorology at the Institute of Physics and Meteorology, University of Hohenheim, Germany, is one of the three awardees of this programme’s total grant of US$5 million for the first phase.

Dr. Abdullah Al Mandoos, Executive Director of Abu Dhabi-based National Center of Meteorology and Seismology, NCMS, held the meeting at the headquarters. He has been monitoring the project since its inception in January 2015.

Alya Al Mazroui, Manager of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science, as well as other project members and senior NCMS representatives attended the meeting.

The interaction was a follow-up to the programme’s strategy direction committee’s review of Wulfmeyer’s progress two weeks prior to his visit.

Wulfmeyer updated the participants about the progress and next steps of his research that deals with optimising cloud seeding. His research focusses on improved detection and forecasting of convergence zones, and convection initiation through new-generation active remote sensing.

He also carried out an aerial and land site survey over the eastern and north-eastern territories in the UAE to identify suitable field sites to conduct his upcoming research campaigns.

"We are pleased with the progress of all the research projects that won the programme’s grant last year. Over the years, rain enhancement has emerged as one of the most promising fields of atmospheric science and we are proud to play our part in contributing to international efforts in augmenting research on this important issue. We hope to continue to establish close research co-operation with top scientists from around the world, and invite them to join the UAE’s efforts to tackle the growing challenges of global water security," Al Mandoos said.

In September this year, the UAEREP team went to Germany and visited Wulfmeyer’s laboratory and also met his project team in order to gain first-hand updates on how the research is advancing.

"Professor Wulfmeyer’s research is one of the most anticipated rain enhancement research projects today at an international level, and we are delighted to be working with him and supporting his ground-breaking work through the programme. We will continue to ensure his research meets the wider mutual strategic objectives of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science and are optimistic that we will witness positive outcomes soon enough to help advance rain enhancement research," said Al Mazroui while commenting on the project’s progress.

"The meeting focussed on different aspects of our research project such as the preparation of unique model runs for the prediction of clouds and precipitation. We are confident that our project will see major progress due to the incorporation of new data sets in our model system, such as GPS and radar. Our visit was also very fruitful because we found an excellent site in the Hajjar Mountain for the set-p and operation of a new combination of observing systems to study wind fields and cloud properties," Wulfmeyer said.