6th International Rain Enhancement Forum Kicks Off in Abu Dhabi

Three-day forum runs under patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Court

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 24 January 2023 – Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Court, the 6th edition of the International Rain Enhancement Forum (IREF), the first-of-its-kind event to tackle pressing water and sustainability issues worldwide, kicked off today at Conrad Abu Dhabi at Etihad Towers.

Organized by the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), through the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP), the event, which takes place from 24-26 January, 2023, is structured around five strategic pillars including Collaborations, Innovation, Capacity Building, Artificial Intelligence and Applied Research.

His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in a speech delivered on his behalf by His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, the Director General of the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), said: “The UAE continues to deliver on its commitment to adopting innovation as a core component of in its government, scientific and economic agenda in support of global environmental goals, particularly those related to climate change and water security. As our country prepares to host key decision and policy makers at 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28), we have recently launched several ambitious initiatives, programs and strategies that will reinforce the UAE’s status as one of the most active and committed countries to the principles of environmental sustainability.

“The relentless efforts of the scientific community to bolster water security and enhance the sustainability of water resources worldwide deserve everyone’s appreciation and recognition, in view of the growing challenges facing our environment, climate and scarce water resources, which top the priorities of global, regional and local agendas. Through this unique global forum dedicated to rain enhancement sciences, we reiterate our full support for the efforts of the scientific community to advance this promising field and provide a sustainable alternative to replenish the groundwater reserves in arid and semi-arid regions worldwide.

“The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science is a noteworthy example of the UAE’s aspirations to become a global hub for advancing the global water security agenda, as evidenced by the achievements made by the program’s awardee projects over its past four cycles. As we embark on a new phase of the Program’s journey, the advancement of science, technology and operational aspects of rain enhancement research has become our collective responsibility. To achieve this goal, we are determined to work closely with top scientific institutions and renowned researchers and enable them to find innovative solutions that enhance our water resources in a sustainable manner at a time of massive urbanization that poses various challenges and places increasing pressure on our limited resources.

“I wish everyone a successful participation in the Forum and look forward to a productive outcome that will reflect positively on the future of this promising field. This will help us achieve our shared goal of utilizing scientific research for the benefit of humanity”, His Highness Sheikh Mansour added.

With a strong participation from leading international and national experts, researchers and scientists in water security, water sustainability and weather modification, IREF seeks to solidify its status as a global platform for exploring key topics related to water sustainability and rain enhancement research. In its latest edition, the event has drawn the participation of 46 speakers and panelists from 18 countries across the world, including His Excellency Prof. Petteri Taalas, Secretary-General, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) who delivered the opening speech and Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment, who addressed the event through her video-recorded remarks.

His Excellency Dr. Abdulla Al Mandous, the Director General of the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), said: “I am honored to deliver IREF’s opening speech on behalf of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to His Highness for his generous patronage for this specialized international event and his continued support for NCM and UAEREP. This has allowed us to continually advance the science and technology of rain enhancement locally and globally and to increase the effectiveness of our rain enhancement operations in the UAE.”

Al Mandous added: “The sixth edition of the International Rain Enhancement Forum serves as an important platform offered by the UAE to the world to achieve the security and sustainability of water supplies and to tackle the challenges of climate change. As the preparation for COP28 are in full swing, we are keen to be part of this momentum by exploring innovative solutions for rain enhancement and by finding ways to accelerate the transition from research to real applications. The ‘Emirates Weather Enhancement Factory’ is a perfect example of such applications.”

Submissions Open for Program’s 5th Cycle

Delivering her opening remarks, Alya Al Mazroui, Director of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, announced the call for submissions for the Program’s 5th Cycle, which offers a grant of up to US$1.5 Million (AED5.511 million), distributed over three years, for each winning research proposal. In its Fifth Cycle, the program welcomes innovative research proposals with a focus on two high-priority areas: enhancing cloud formation and rain enhancement.

Al Mazroui said: “We are proud of the UAEREP’s tremendous success over the past years. We credit this success to the continued support and patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Court, who articulates the UAE’s efforts to leverage innovation and scientific research to contribute to global quest to achieve water security. With NCM playing a key role in linking the program’s research outputs with its rain enhancement operations, we have delivered consistently improved results that can be applied locally, regionally and globally.”

Al Mazrouei added: “Amid the participation of many distinguished scientists and researchers from top global research institutions, today we are announcing the call for submissions for the Program’s 5th Cycle to continue building on its impressive achievements and results. We are delighted with the program’s success in offering new theoretical and practical solutions that enabled many countries in the region and across the globe to develop dedicated rain enhancement programs to ensure sustainable alternatives to the groundwater supplies.”

Registration of proposals for the Program’s Fifth Cycle is open till March 9, 2023, and pre-proposals should be submitted by March 16, 2023. Those invited to submit full proposals will be notified on May 26, 2023, and will be asked to send their full proposals by August 24, 2023.

The winning projects will be selected by a rigorous, two-stage merit review process and the awardees will be announced in January 2024. The awardees will receive a grant of up to US$1.5 million, distributed over three years, with a maximum annual amount of $550K for each winning research proposal.

Earlier, the program unveiled its solicitation document that outlines its targeted research areas along with important information on the application and evaluation process and the timeline. The document can be accessed and downloaded from the UAEREP website.

Plenary Session: ‘Water Security in the Global Climate Agenda’

The Day 1 of the forum featured a plenary session titled ‘Water Security in the Global Climate Agenda’. The session was led by leading experts in environmental sustainability, water security and climate change mitigation including Her Excellency Dr. Nawal Al Hosany, UAE’s Permanent Representative at IRENA, His Excellency Essa Al Hashmi, Assistant Undersecretary for the Sustainable Communities Sector and Acting Assistant Undersecretary for the Green Development and Climate Change Sector at MoCCAE, Prof. Juerg Luterbacher, Director, Science and Innovation Department and Chief Scientist, World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and Dr. Mohamed Mahmoud, Director, Climate and Water Program, Middle East Institute, Washington DC, USA.

This session focused on the implications of changing precipitation patterns on freshwater security, and discussed ways to combat and prepare for adverse effects–especially in the case of arid and semi-arid regions.

Session One: ‘Opportunities and Challenges for Implementation of Rainfall Enhancement Models and Technologies’

The first session of the opening day discussed ‘Opportunities and Challenges for Implementation of Rainfall Enhancement Models and Technologies’. The session drew the participation of Dr. Eric Xing, President, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), who delivered the opening speech; Prof. Eric Frew, Director, Autonomous Systems Interdisciplinary Research Theme (ASIRT), University of Colorado Boulder, USA and the UAEREP’s 3rd Cycle Awardee; Dr. Bradley Baker, Principal Investigator at SPEC Incorporated and UAEREP’s 4th Cycle Awardee; Prof. Diana Francis, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, ENGEOS Lab, Khalifa University, UAE; Prof. Enrico Natalizio, Vice President, Autonomous Robotics Research Center, Technology Innovation Institute (TII), UAE; and Prof. Linda Zou Professor, Department of Civil Infrastructure and Environmental Engineering, Khalifa University, UAE. The session was moderated by Dr. Steve Griffiths, Senior Vice President for Research and Development, Khalifa University, UAE.

This session covered issues related to the implementation of advancements in the rain enhancement field, such as pushing the state-of-the-art methods in numerical weather modeling toward operation implementation, logistical challenges and other obstacles to transitioning from research to operational environments in rain enhancement, which include strategies, case studies, and TRL consideration; evaluating and communicating rainfall enhancement results; and evaluation of impacts of rain enhancement efforts.

Session Two: ‘New Approaches and Innovations for Rainfall Enhancement’

Titled ‘New Approaches and Innovations for Rainfall Enhancement’, the second session drew the participation of His Excellency Omran Sharaf, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Advanced Science and Technology, who delivered the opening speech. The session was led by Prof. Luca Delle Monache, Deputy Director of the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E), Scripps Institute of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, USA and the UAEREP 4th Cycle Awardee; Prof. Ali Abshaev, Deputy Director  Hail Suppression Research Center, Russia  and the UAEREP’s 3rd Cycle Awardee; Dr. John Hassard, Faculty, Imperial College London, UK and Prof. Zhanyu YAO, Professor, Weather Modification Center, China Meteorological Administration, China, who addressed the session virtually.

The session covered innovative research and advancements in rain enhancement including the integration of innovative ground-based, airborne, and space-based platforms to provide new insights into cloud formation and rainfall enhancement, the deployment of artificial intelligence and intelligent systems in meteorology and rainfall enhancement, and advances in artificial cloud formation.