UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science to achieve enhanced precipitation nowcasting

Abu Dhabi: The National Centre of Meteorology (NCM), through the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP), has announced the start of its latest innovative project this week, during a visit to the Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego.

Led by Dr. Luca Delle Monache, Deputy Director of the Centre for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), the project will deploy artificial intelligence (AI) to achieve enhanced precipitation nowcasting.

By leveraging ground-based and spaceborne data sets and operational numerical weather prediction products used in cloud seeding operations, Dr. Delle Monache’s team will assist operational rainfall enhancement programmes around the world by utilising AI algorithms to generate significantly improved weather forecasts.

Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, Director of NCM and President of the Regional Association II (Asia) of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), said, “Through strengthening partnerships with top international research institutions and key stakeholders in rain enhancement research, the Centre is scaling up its response to the growing water stress challenges worldwide. Such efforts will help us develop innovative solutions and contribute new knowledge to benefit those in need of freshwater resources in water-scarce and arid regions.”

Alya Al Mazroui, Director of UAEREP, said that Dr. Delle Monache’s new project will open up a range of potentially fruitful new research directions that will complement the excellent work that our other awardees have already done. Their established projects cover a diverse array of research areas and technologies such as nanotechnology to accelerate water condensation and droplet formation, cloud electrical properties analysis, advanced experimental-numerical approaches to develop rain enhancement solutions and achieve water security, UAVs, algorithm-based data processing, convergence zone analysis, ice nucleation, and aerosol seeding.

The project’s focal point will be the creation of an AI research and operations testbed in the UAE. A novel AI framework will be built to combine satellite observations, ground-based weather radar data, rain gauges, and numerical weather prediction estimates to extract features and generate products that could determine optimal cloud seeding timings and locations.

The new framework generates highly accurate quantitative precipitation estimates for evaluating the rainfall enhancement programme.

According to Dr. Delle Monache, “an advanced deep learning algorithm will be designed to learn from thousands of examples drawn from historical data and effectively extract and extrapolate inputs and the required cloud features needed to predict new cloud formations that could be seeded. These features and inputs will be combined with extrapolated satellite and radar data, numerical weather prediction data, and rain gauges to provide inputs for an AI-based model that can generate precipitation predictions up to six hours in the future.”

To expand rain enhancement capabilities in the UAE, the multidisciplinary team expects to deliver a prototype of the AI-based predictive capabilities deployed at the NCM in Abu Dhabi through a research and operations partnership. This will allow the Centre to identify optimal cloud characteristics, timings, and seeding locations and enhance quantitative precipitation estimates for rain enhancement in the UAE by deploying a prototype AI-based system at NCM for precipitation nowcasting between 0-6 hours. Rain Enhancement Science begins

By driving international efforts to strengthen water security through promoting scientific best practices and collaboration in rain enhancement research, the Programme is helping the UAE fulfil its ambitious vision to make the country a leading global knowledge economy.

WAM Rain Enhancement Science begins