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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 21295118" data-attributes="member: 218596">Cloud seeding a boost to rainfall over UAE<img src="http://www.thenational.ae/storyimage/AB/20170227/ARTICLE/170229166/AR/0/&NCS_modified=20170228082102&MaxW=640&imageVersion=default&AR-170229166.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /> FUJAIRAH - The recent spate of downpours might have  dampened tourists’ spirits, but scientists at the National Centre of  Meteorology and Seismology could not have been happier. Officials at the NCMS were delighted to see the skies open on Sunday, with heavy and long showers reported across the country. "We  have carried out 12 cloud-seeding operations during the last three days  and 58 since the beginning of the year," said Dr Ahmed Habeeb,  meteorologist and expert on cloud seeding at the centre. "Cloud  seeding is a way to enhance the amount of precipitation that falls from  the clouds and helps generate 10 to 30 per cent more rain. We started  testing this method back in 2002 until 2006, and that’s when we  officially began to carry out cloud-seeding operations." Dr Habeeb said the heaviest rain was on Sunday, with 24 millimetres falling over Al Faqa on the border of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Cloud  seeding is not an exact science and uncertainty about whether rain can  be produced on demand remains. Despite more than 60 years of research,  there is a lot to be understood about rain and clouds because of their  differing properties. "Not  all types of clouds can be seeded, only the ones that are ready to  generate rain. We use hygroscopic salt to level up the amount of  moisture to generate more rain," said Dr Habeeb, adding that the best  season for seeding is between June and August. "Eastern areas such  as Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and parts of Al Ain have the best  environment and factors to generate clouds for seeding, especially  during summer, while in the western areas, and particularly Liwa, we can  find such clouds in the period between July and August," he said  Forecasters expect the wet weather to continue towards the weekend. But the overcast skies and heavy rain provided some much-needed relief for farmers and their crops. "The  land and the soil needed such heavy rain, the trees look lean and  fresh," said Ahmad Saber, a 70-year-old Emirati farmer who owns a farm  in Qidfa. "I have palm trees that adapt very well with the soil’s  high levels of salt but other trees can’t grow and live in such soil, so  water is very important to reduce the amount of salt in the ground." Mr Saber said his farm relied on rainfall and water from a well."I  face difficulties to move water from the well to the farm as its  located in a place far away from the farm. We didn’t face such problems  in the past as the amounts of rain was higher and there used to be a  stream near by, but everything has changed during the past 10 years," he  said. Another farmer from Al Bidya said rain was essential as relying on water from desalination was expensive. "I  used to grow vegetables but not any more as the water resources and  rain are decreasing and I can’t afford water desalination," said Abu  Baker Sultan, 45. "I only kept the palm trees as they don’t need much  water to grow." An agricultural engineer said heavy rain could solve farmers’ problems temporarily, but long-term solutions were needed. "Due  to the lack of heavy rain farmers should use other methods to provide  their farms with water, such as modern irrigation or hydroponics," said  Abdulhaq Yousef. "Farmers  should be educated by the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment  about the best practices, and how to conserve water and make the best of  the current resources."  Cloud  seeding aims to increase the amount of rain that falls by releasing  pure salt crystal, silver iodide, potassium iodide or dry ice into the  air, which helps to change the processes within the cloud. Since  its first attempt to make rain in 1990, the National Centre of  Meteorology and Seismology has used expertise from Nasa and other  organisations in its experiments. Using planes fitted with seeding  flares, NCMS pilots fire salt crystals into clouds to improve  condensation and form droplets that could fall as rain. This year,  a UAE research team filed a provisional application for a patent with  the US Patent and Trademark Office for a cloud-seeding technique that  involves coating a pure salt crystal with titanium dioxide to improve  the condensation process. American  Charles Hatfield is credited as being the first person to make it rain  on demand using science in 1915, using US$10,000 donated by the city of  San Diego, California, to end a severe drought. Using a "secret  formula" he reportedly produced so much rain that valleys in southern  California flooded. Hatfield never shared his "secret formula". *The National </blockquote>

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