UAE ramps up cloud seeding with nanomaterials and 172 flights to boost scarce rainfall

Those sudden, heavy downpours that drenched parts of the UAE this year didn’t happen by accident. A recent What’s On feature notes that the National Centre of Meteorology (NCM) has been running one of the world’s more sophisticated cloud‑seeding programs, deliberately targeting suitable clouds to coax extra rainfall in a country where every drop matters. You see, the idea isn’t to conjure rain out of nothing, but to supplement natural precipitation where it’s most useful.

The operation is built on continuous observation. The NCM keeps a close watch on the sky with radars, satellites, ground stations and about 26 live camera feeds, scanning convective clouds with real potential to produce rain. When meteorologists identify a promising system, specially equipped aircraft are dispatched for reconnaissance and seeding runs. Gulf News and earlier coverage describe typical missions as lasting about three hours, with aircraft carrying and deploying as many as 48 hygroscopic flares during a series of passes inside multiple clouds. The National Centre says these interventions are intended to supplement natural precipitation rather than create clouds from nothing.

The flares themselves are a locally produced technology. A Khaleej Times report takes readers inside UAE factories where potassium chloride and sodium chloride are measured, blended and packed into cartridges for burning‑flare deployment. The manufacturing process is presented as a deliberate national outcome of research and quality control, ensuring particle size and chemistry are tuned for effective collision and coalescence inside warm convective clouds. Complementary ground‑based generators — tall towers installed in mountainous areas that inject seeding material into low‑lying clouds — have also been used, the Emirates News Agency reported when those systems were introduced as part of the wider operational mix.

Alongside salt‑based methods, the UAE has invested in higher‑tech approaches. The UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science describes years of development and airborne testing of engineered core‑shell composite nanomaterials, trialled on research flights using a Learjet fitted with sophisticated sensors. The program frames those trials, including international collaboration and tests carried out both in the UAE and abroad, as steps toward more efficient cloud‑condensation nuclei. Public statements by the research programme and reporting in regional outlets say the nanomaterials are markedly more effective than traditional flares — one account describes them as “up to three times” as effective — though outcomes will depend on cloud type and the conditions at the time of seeding.

The NCM and allied programmes present a clear target for their interventions. The centre says the aim is to increase rainfall across operations by roughly 10–25 per cent, a proportion that would be significant in an arid environment. Gulf News has reported that 172 cloud‑seeding flights were flown in 2025 up to the time of reporting, reflecting an expanded tempo of operations this year. Officials link the urgency of the effort to recent dry winters and rising water demand, noting that natural climate variability — including La Niña influences — has contributed to lower seasonal rainfall in some years.

Scientific literature and reference works counsel caution about interpreting such percentage gains. Britannica explains the underlying physics — how introducing particles can promote condensation and, in cold clouds, ice nucleation — and notes that seeding outcomes are inherently conditional. Under optimal circumstances and in the correct cloud types, studies have suggested possible increases in precipitation of the order of a few tens of per cent; results can be highly localized and are sensitive to timing, microphysics and the natural variability of the atmosphere. In short, the science can boost rainfall potential but does not guarantee a fixed yield on every mission.

Research into new techniques continues. Regional reporting has highlighted experiments with electrical charging of clouds, exploratory work on jet‑engine generated updrafts and even laser‑based approaches, alongside the use of artificial intelligence and advanced modelling to refine targeting and mission timing. The combination of observational capability, on‑the‑ground manufacturing and a research pipeline is presented by UAE authorities as an integrated water‑security measure, designed to stretch scarce freshwater resources while also advancing the underlying science.

That narrative is not without its critics and questions. External scientists have long urged rigorous, peer‑reviewed evaluation and transparent environmental monitoring of seeding programmes; Britannica and other independent sources recommend careful statistical attribution studies to separate seeded enhancements from natural variability. The UAE’s programme officials and research partners have framed their work in those terms, emphasising controlled trials, sensor‑rich research flights and international collaboration to build a stronger evidence base.

For residents and visitors, the practical result is straightforward: many of the impressive storms that exploded over desert skies in recent months were the outcome of planned interventions as much as natural weather patterns. Officials describe the effort as part of a broader, precautionary strategy for a water‑stressed nation — a strategy that mixes traditional hygroscopic seeding, ground‑based generators and cutting‑edge nanoscience with modelling and monitoring aimed at making each rain‑bearing cloud count.

Source: Noah Wire Services