Cloud-breaking Drones set to Boost Rainfall in the UAE

Other than delivery and military operations, have you ever thought that drones can be used to boost rainfall? Scientists at the University of reading have come up with a project that will see the deployment of drones in the clouds to boost rainfall.

According to BBC reports, drones that fly into the clouds will be given an electric shock that could ‘cajole them’ to producing rain, and will have its first test in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Cloud-seeding technology that drops salt to trigger precipitation is already in use in the country.

Prof Maarten Ambaum said that the project aims to alter the electric charge balance on cloud droplets. As reported by BBC he said: “The water table is sinking drastically in the UAE and the purpose of this is to try to help with rainfall.”

The project explores to utilize the clouds, which are plenty in the country, to encourage water droplets to coalesce through the application of static electricity. When the merging drops become so big “they will fall as rain.”

Alya Al-Mazroui who is the director of the UAE’s rain-enhancement science-research program, told the Arab News that: “Equipped with a payload of electric-charge emission instruments and customized sensors, these drones will fly at low altitudes and deliver an electric charge to air molecules, which should motivate precipitation.”