UAE: AI boosts rainfall through advanced cloud seeding technology

7/11/2024

In 2024 alone, the UAE has performed an impressive array of cloud seeding missions, with use of over 900 flight hours annually, and a significant investment in advanced technology to raise rainfall. In Abu Dhabi, the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize these efforts so meteorologists can analyze huge amounts of real time data and will optimize cloud seeding precision. Forecasters using AI can more effectively choose the best clouds to seed to increase the success of rainfall induction and improve decision making.

These operations involve the release of seeding materials more accurately, and drones equipped with sensors and AI are doing the job. The cloud seeding has produced annually from 84 to 419 cubic million meters of usable water that is a share of the total UAE rainfall.

Collaborations with the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUI) on cloud seed-ability and the use of nanotechnology on innovative seeding materials are key projects. Pilotless cloud seeding is still in development because of the complexity of weather interpretation, but the combination of AI, drones and new technologies reflect the UAE’s commitment to both water security and global innovation.