UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science expands reach

Dubai / Emirates Business

The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science has been on a research collaboration trip to Japan and China, in order to meet with eminent scientists and researchers in many scientific fields related to rain enhancement science, introducing them to the program and its goals, and the aspirations of the UAE leadership and government in finding new and innovative solutions to increase rainfall. This ambitious program supports the water pillar, one of the seven pillars of the UAE Innovation Strategy launched in early 2015.
Commenting on the visits, Dr. Abdullah Mandoos, director of NCMS said: “The international research cooperation trips are of great importance to the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, which attracted a significant worldwide interest with the participation of researchers representing 45 countries from all over the world at its second edition, which addressed one of the most important scientific fields and the biggest issues of concern to humanity today, water security.
“Through these visits, we are seeking close research cooperation with top scientists around the world, urging them to participate in our next edition. We believe that Japan, China and the wider Eastern Asia region
are among leading regions worldwide in scientific research, particularly in meteorological research and atmospheric studies, and we expect to
receive many innovative and distinguished researches from scientists and researchers in this part of
the world.”
During the trip, the delegation interacted with 17 governmental and research entities, and universities. They met with over 74 scientists and researchers in different scientific fields related to rain enhancement, such as physics, atmosphere and cloud physics, earth sciences, geology, and numeric modeling, among others. The meetings included a presentation on the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science given by Alya Al Mazroui, Program Manager and Mohammed Al Muhairi, Head of Media and Marketing at the National Center of Meteorology and Seismology, and also a presentation on cloud seeding operations in the UAE given by Sufian Farrah, Meteorologist and Cloud Seeding Expert at the Center.
In Japan, the delegation visited some of the most prominent scientific and research organizations, such as the Japan Meteorological Agency, the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience, the Asian Association for Geology, and the Nagoya University. Delegation members also interacted with researchers from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Research Institute for Global Change, the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, and Diamond Air Service. Moreover, delegation members held several meetings with professor Masataka Murakami, the grantee of the program’s first edition, and were introduced to his research team and colleagues at Nagoya University and the Meteorological Agency. The delegation also toured the scientific laboratories where the professor works, to learn more about the progress of his research project.
Professor Masataka Murakami, Professor at Nagoya University and Visiting Scientist at MRI said: “The demand for fresh water is increasing everywhere, including here in Japan. The country is experiencing regular droughts, serious enough to collect data, encourage experiments and promote innovation in the field of rain enhancement. Thanks to the fruitful collaboration between Japan’s Meteorological Research Institute and the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, we are bringing scientists and technologists together, to better address water security issues globally”.