As you may know, the UAE is a desert country with occasional rains, but this is likely to change.
And that’s because the country is now testing drones that will reach flying clouds and “force” them to rain with electric shocks.
The UAE is already using cloud seeding technology to send rain, which pours salt on the clouds to make it rain.
But since the UAE still receives only 100 mm of annual rainfall, more rains are needed.
In 2017, the government provided 150 million for nine different rainwater harvesting projects, one of which is led by scientists at the University of Reading.
Professor Martin Embam, who worked on the project, said the project aims to change the balance of electric charge in the droplets of clouds.
He told the BBC that “groundwater levels in the UAE are declining rapidly and this is aimed at helping the rains.”
“But there is no shortage of clouds in the country, so the purpose is to make the drops in them stick to each other like an electric current.
“When the drops meet and get big enough, they will rain like rain.”
Alia al-Mazrouei is the director of the program. He told Arab News that the drones would be equipped with electrically charged devices and special sensors and that the drones would provide an electrical charge to air molecules flying at low altitudes, which should cause rain.
The study will then be analyzed so that more funding can be obtained and the work can be taken from the aircraft so that more rain can fall.
