Have scientists discovered how to create downpours in the desert? | Ma...

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Have scientists discovered how to create downpours in the desert?

By Daily Mail Reporter UPDATED: 10:22 GMT, 3 January 2011

Technology created 50 rainstorms in Abu Dhabi's Al Ain region last year

For centuries people living in the Middle East have dreamed of turning the sandy desert into land fit for growing crops with fresh water on tap. Now that holy grail is a step closer after scientists employed by the ruler of Abu Dhabi claim to have generated a series of downpours. Fifty rainstorms were created last year in the state's eastern Al Ain region using technology designed to control the weather.

Dry as dust: The sand dunes of the United Arab Emirates, which sees no rain at all for months. Now a secret project has brought storms to Abu Dhabi

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Plan: Scientists are attempting to make clouds in the desert to give man control over the weather

Most of the storms were at the height of the summer in July and August when there is no rain at all. People living in Abu Dhabi were baffled by the rainfall which sometimes turned into hail and included gales and lightening.

HOW TECHNOLOGY IS KICKING UP A STORM

The Metro System scientists used ionisers to produce negatively charged particles called electrons. They have a natural tendency to attach to tiny specks of dust which are ever-present in the atmosphere in the desert-regions. These are then carried up from the emitters by convection - upward currents of air generated by the heat release from sunlight as it hits the ground. Once the dust particles reach the right height for cloud formation, the charges will attract water molecules floating in the air which then start to condense around them. If there is sufficient moisture in the air, it induces billions of droplets to form which finally means cloud and rain. The scientists have been working secretly for United Arab Emirates president Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. They have been using giant ionisers, shaped like stripped down lampshades on steel poles, to generate fields of negatively charged particles. These promote cloud formation and researchers hoped they could then produce rain. In a confidential company video, the founder of the Swiss company in charge of the project, Metro Systems International, boasted of success. Helmut Fluhrer said: 'We have achieved a number of rainfalls.' It is believed to be the first time the system has produced rain from clear skies, according to the Sunday Times. In the past, China and other countries have used chemicals for cloud-seeding to both induce and prevent

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rain falling. Last June Metro Systems built five ionising sites each with 20 emitters which can send trillions of cloudforming ions into the atmosphere. Over four summer months the emitters were switched on when the required atmospheric level of humidity reached 30 per cent or more. While the country's weather experts predicted no clouds or rain in the Al Ain region, rain fell on FIFTY-TWO occasions. The project was monitored by the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology, one of the world's major centres for atmospheric physics. Professor Hartmut Grassl, a former institute director, said: There are many applications. One is getting water into a dry area. 'Maybe this is a most important point for mankind.'

State visit: Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of the United Arab Emirates, accompanies the Queen at the Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi last year

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Desert: Scientists created 50 rainstorms in Abu Dhabi's Al Ain region last year

The savings using the Weathertec technology are huge with the system costing 6 million a year while desalination is 45 million. Building an ionising system is about 7 million while a desalination plant would be 850 million and costs a lot more to run. Some scientists are treating the results in Al Ain with caution because Abu Dhabi is a coastal state and can experience natural summer rainfall triggered by air picking up moisture from the warm ocean before dropping it on land. But the number of times it rained in the region so soon after the ionisers were switched on has encouraged researchers. Professor Peter Wilderer witnessed the experiments first hand and is backing the breakthrough. The director of advanced studies on sustainability at the Technical University of Munich, said: 'We came a big step closer to the point where we can increase the availability of fresh water to all in times of dramatic global changes.'

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Comments (134)
Newest Oldest Best rated Worst rated View all Instead of regulating CO2 emissions, bartering their units like money, we'll now need to measure and barter the humidity units in the air since it is needed to produce artificial rain. What's next? - regulating the amount of oxygen and nitrogen in the air to support life? - What? , unknown, 04/1/2011 12:45 Click to rate Report abuse You've got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe! You've got to give your cold hard cash 'fore you're worthy to receive. All the weather you can stand, cool your feet, cool your core! Leave no carbon debt for others. Thank you kindly, Albert Gore. - Darby , Reno,Nevada,USA, 04/1/2011 12:20 Click to rate Report abuse Better watch out. Every time humans think they can fool mother nature She gets her dander up and gives the arrogant 'Know it Alls" a lesson they won't forget. Remember the Dinosaur and Wooly Mammoth? - rowley , port aransas tx, 04/1/2011 12:19 Click to rate Report abuse From the article: "The savings using the Weathertec technology are huge with the system costing 6 million a year while desalination is 45 million. Building an ionising system is about 7 million while a desalination plant would be 850 million and costs a lot more to run." But are we comparing like with like?. How much usable water is genrated by the two systems - what are the risks etc etc. A full cost-benefit analysis is required to determine which system is the better overall. But both processes with the necessary, research and development, would be preferable to wasting money on the red herring of man-made global warming and the carbon credit scam. - Martin , Lutterworth, Leicestershire, 04/1/2011 12:12 Click to rate Report abuse Rating 42 Rating 27 Rating 5 Rating 57

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What's important to note here is that George W. Bush knew about this technology and still did nothing to stop Katrina. - Don H. , Pittsburgh, PA, 04/1/2011 11:44 Click to rate Report abuse Tesla did it first - back in the 1890's. - justiceuk , kent uk, 04/1/2011 11:17 Click to rate Report abuse As I read the story I remembered a story about Christ thirsting and a cloud forms from a blue sky and rains on Him. This invention and the practice of making it rain can head off what could be the next war, the war over water. This isn't "climate change" it is changing the weather it seems. Think of how much more food could be grown by using rain to water the crops instead of other sources. - John , Kansas USA, 04/1/2011 10:53 Click to rate Report abuse United States Patent and Trademark Office 1338343 - April 27, 1920 - Process And Apparatus For The Production of Intense Artificial Clouds, Fogs, or Mists 1619183 - March 1, 1927 - Process of Producing Smoke Clouds From Moving Aircraft 1631753 June 7, 1927 - Electric Heater - Referenced in 3990987 1665267 - April 10, 1928 - Process of Producing Artificial Fogs 1892132 - December 27, 1932 - Atomizing Attachment For Airplane Engine Exhausts 1928963 - October 3, 1933 - Electrical System And Method 1957075 - May 1, 1934 - Airplane Spray Equipment 2097581 - November 2, 1937 - Electric Stream Generator Referenced in 3990987 2409201 - October 15, 1946 - Smoke Producing Mixture 2476171 - July 18, 1945 - Smoke Screen Generator 2480967 - September 6, 1949 - Aerial Discharge Device - chas freeman , penzance cornwall, 04/1/2011 10:07 Click to rate Report abuse Ok...as there is a finite amount of water available over the whole planet does this mean that water that would have fallen elsewhere was hijacked? - hkinsey3 , Alabama, 04/1/2011 07:27 Click to rate Report abuse @ JJ from Bend. Amen! Aint no conspiracy, it's just technology now. Chemtrails contain micro particles that can kill us and will. Oh all for the name of money, and we're good ol' Obama hating conspiracy nuts from Oregon. Personally I can do with a little desert. I think we need to avoid such technology. I have known about HAARP for a few years and it's dangerous and the U.S. is becoming dangerous. I live in Oregon and I kinda miss the clear blue sky. Really hate chemtrails, really hate being zapped with ionized atmosphere all the time. Humans have a natural energy and this technology can disturb that delicate balance. Chuck you can have your opinion but playing God with the planet is wrong. - J Tyler , Eugene, OR, 04/1/2011 06:06 Click to rate Report abuse The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Today's headlines Most Read Meet the iFinch: The tiny headphones that can make a songbird change its tune (and could help us learn more Rating 20 Rating 11 Rating 16 Rating (0) Rating 164 Rating 52

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