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A high-level delegation from the United Arab Emirates Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP) participated in a two-week European research cooperation visit to promote the country’s path-breaking initiative and exchange innovative ideas on rain enhancement towards encouraging deeper collaboration in this promising field of atmospheric research.
Led by His Excellency Dr Abdullah Al Mandoos, Director of the UAE National Center of Meteorology & Seismology (NCMS), the delegation comprised Omar Al Yazeedi, Director of Research, Development and Training, Mohamed Al Mheiri, Head of Media and Marketing Services and Sufian Farrah, Senior forecaster at NCMS.
The roadshow to promote the program included visits to Bologna and Trieste in Italy, as well as Stuttgart and Karlsruhe in Germany and Brussels in Belgium. The UAE delegation met with over 38 scientists and researchers from several climatology research groups across scientific disciplines such as atmospheric modeling, cloud physics, dynamics and chemistry, aerosol science, earth sciences, hydrology and geology. The team also interacted with 15 government entities, universities and research facilities across Italy, Germany and Belgium.
• Belgium: Marking the culmination of the European cooperation visit that highlighted the broader spectrum of the program, the UAE delegation met with top representatives from the Office of the United Nations in the Belgian capital city of Brussels, as well as from the European Commission’s Directorates General for Climate Action, Environment and International Cooperation, to discuss the concrete applications of cloud-seeding for the benefit of population in arid and semi-arid regions and beyond.
Antoine Saintraint, Head of Water Sector at the European Commission Directorate General for International Cooperation and Development, said: "The European Union is committed to promoting water security internally and at a global level, and over the years, we have forged many successful international water partnerships. The UAE is known for its efficiency in water management, and hence could play an important role in capacity building beyond the borders of the Union and in promoting excellence in research globally."
Speaking on the outcome of UAEREP delegation’s visit to Europe, His Excellency Dr Abdullah Al Mandoos, Director of the UAE National Center of Meteorology & Seismology, said: “Such international research cooperation visits are of vital importance to the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science. This year again, we are seeking to establish close research cooperation with top scientists from around the world, inviting them to join the UAE’s efforts to tackle the growing challenges of global water security. We are encouraged to see the rising awareness and appreciation for our program at all the places we have visited. Clearly, with its ever-increasing geographical reach, the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science reflects the pioneering role played by the United Arab Emirates in advancing water security globally.”
• Italy: The UAE delegation met with researchers from influential climatology research groups of the National Research Council and the University of Bologna - the oldest University in the world. In Bologna, as part of extensive discussions on meteorological monitoring, weather forecasting and modeling, the delegation provided extensive information on the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science and outlined its long-term objectives - to advance the science, technology, and implementation of cloud-seeding globally.
Cristina Sabbioni, Director of the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of Italy’s National Research Council, said: "This meeting with a prominent UAE institution was highly beneficial and relevant to our ongoing work at the institute. We believe collaborative projects are always the best way to transfer knowledge and produce high-quality scientific results and applications."
Within the context of its participation in the European Meteorological Society Annual Meeting and European Conference on Applied Climatology in Trieste, the program delegation also met with experts and stakeholders from institutions and organizations such as the Swiss Federal Research Institute and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
• Germany: The delegation visited some of the most prominent scientific and research organizations in the country, such as the University of Hohenheim and its Institute of Physics and Meteorology, and the Atmospheric Aerosol Research division of Karlsruhe Institute of Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research.
In Hohenheim, the delegation held several meetings with Professor Volker Wulfmeyer, Managing Director and Chair of Physics and Meteorology and one of the awardees of the program’s first cycle. The UAE delegation was introduced to the academic, research and scientific teams. The delegates attended sophisticated meteorological simulations, participated in real-time experiments, and discovered the ultra-high resolution models and scanning Lidar (a detection system which works on the principle of radar, but uses light from a laser) and radar systems with which the professor conducts his ambitious research on the bio-geoengineering of precipitation.
Offering a comprehensive overview of his research project and his talented team’s progress, Prof Volker Wulfmeyer said: “The UAEREP is a unique opportunity to use advanced research tools for studying the water and energy cycle in arid and semi-arid regions where its understanding is most important for water management. We are convinced that our project will ensure major progress in this area due to the new combination of high-performance models and observing systems that are being applied in this region for the first time.”
Alya Al Mazroui, Manager of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, said: “The program has considerably broadened its scope of interests over the years - from aircraft technology to seeding materials, modeling and fundamental scientific understanding of subjects from the growth of water droplets to precipitation mechanisms. Through continuously engaging with stakeholders in Europe, Asia, and the US, our aim is to reach beyond the rain enhancement community, and ultimately find and support the most innovative solutions in this field.”
The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science is expected to conduct more international research collaboration visits later this year. The delegation will travel across the United States in December 2016 to discuss innovative technologies and new avenues of cooperation, as well as to encourage all scientists and technologists interested in global rain enhancement to join the program’s third cycle - another major step in this global endeavor - set to start at the end of January 2017.
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