Research Groups from the USA, China and Russia Awarded for the UAE Rain Enhancement Program USD$5 Million Grant

The awardees of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science were announced during Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2018.  

In the presence of an audience comprising VIP dignitaries, ambassadors, stakeholders and leading scientists, three research teams from the USA, China and Russia were awarded the US $5 million grant offered by this innovative UAE initiative.

The three awarded scientists for this Third Cycle of the Program are:

• Professor Eric Frew, of the University of Colorado, for his project dealing with targeted observation and seeding using autonomous unmanned aircraft systems.
• Dr Lulin Xue, of the Hua Xin Chuang Zhi Science and Technology LLC in China, for a project entitled “Using Advanced Experimental - Numerical Approaches to Untangle Rain Enhancement”.
• and Dr Ali Abshaev, of the Hail Suppression Research Center in Russia, for a project examining the creation of updrafts for the formation of artificial clouds and rainfall. 

Also in attendance at the ceremony were awardees from the first two Cycles, already carrying out ground-breaking work on innovative algorithms, nanotechnology and land cover modification, ice production processes in cumulus clouds, aerosols’ role in precipitation enhancement and electrical properties of clouds.

Since the Program was launched, an international outreach campaign has engaged with 1,220 researchers and 520 institutions from more than 68 countries. Key global institutions engaged include the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Meteorological Organisation, NASA, Harvard and Princeton.

By serving as a hub for an internationally recognized research network, the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science is moving from strength to strength by facilitating the active knowledge transfers needed to ensure sustainable development and economic growth in those regions of the world vulnerable to aridity and water shortages.