Bid to use humidity to boost rainfall backed by UAE-US climate action partnership

Aim for Climate strategy has raised $29.2 billion to fund agricultural project

New technology aims to harness humidity to increase rainfall. Antonie Robertson / The National

Plans to harness high humidity to produce crucial rainfall for farmers in arid conditions are taking shape under a multibillion-dollar UAE-US partnership turning brainstorming into concrete climate solutions.

The high-tech project from US company Heka Cloud is one of several being developed with financial support from the Agriculture Innovation Mission for Climate (Aim for Climate) established by the Emirates and Washington to drive environmental action.

It was announced on Monday that project organisers had raised $29.2 billion since 2020 to support climate-smart agricultural projects. Aim for Climate now has more than 800 partners worldwide, with key funding from the private and public sectors.

The latest investments and partnerships were unveiled by Aim for Climate co-chiefs Dr Amna Al Dahak, Minister of Climate Change and Environment, and US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at the UAE Pavilion at Cop29 on Monday.

Boosting water security

Shuang Chen, founder and chief executive of Heka Cloud, told The National that while the project is still in the pilot phase, it has the potential to track humidity and capture it to create up to an average of 2mm of rain per day where needed for farmers.

Mr Chen said the technology aims to replicate nature, imitating the process similar to the formation of a thundercloud. "The technology, using electrical energy, can be powered by solar power. It's using a high voltage to generate billions of ions and mimic the thunderstorm process," he said. "When the ions touch the air, they quickly accelerate growth and create small-scale rain."

According to Mr Chen, Heka Cloud's AI-powered, humidity-harvesting system has the potential to provide a nature-based water solution to more than 90 per cent of the UAE.

By producing controlled rain, even in dry seasons, Mr Chen said the scheme could make a lasting impact on water and food security. "The key is that if we can precisely track the humidity, then we have the capability to the automate systems 24 hours a day. Whenever the situation is right, we can generate certain rains."

In addition to providing a solution to support farmers in arid environments, Mr Chen said the project has the potential to generate millions of tonnes of carbon credits annually if applied in the UAE, which he said would support the nation's net-zero goals.

A panel discussion led by Aim for Climate at Cop29 in Baku on Monday. Photo: Aim for Climate

Jaime Adams, who leads international agricultural science and technology issues for the US Department of Agriculture's chief scientist, said the Aim initiative had put the needs of the agriculture industry into sharp focus.

"One of the biggest things we've seen with Aim for Climate is we have brought more ministers of agriculture to the table, made opportunity for more food and agriculture stakeholders to know about Cop, come to Cop for the first time over the last several years, and ensure that the voices of farmers are here and represented."

Ms Adams said the announcement of the funds committed to Aim for Climate is critical on the back of this year's focus on finance to tackle the climate crisis. She said what is needed now is for a greater focus on food and agriculture in national climate action plans.

Pioneering plans

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  Hygroscopic (water-attracting) salt flares are attached to an aircraft at Al Ain International Airport before a cloud-seeding flight operated by the National Centre of Meteorology. The UAE has been leading the effort to seed clouds and increase precipitation, which remains at less than 100 millimetres a year on average. All photos by Reuters

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  Pilot Michael Anstis writes a weather report before the cloud-seeding flight from Al Ain.

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  An airport employee closes an aircraft door, with hygroscopic salt flares seen in the background, before the cloud-seeding flight.

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  Pilots Michael Anstis and Ahmed Al Jaberi receive instructions before the flight.

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  The control room at the National Centre of Meteorology in Abu Dhabi.

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  An explanatory hologram of the cloud-seeding process in the National Centre of Meteorology control room in Abu Dhabi.

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  Cloud-seeding flares in the National Centre of Meteorology control room.

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  Hygroscopic salt flares are attached to an aircraft during a cloud-seeding flight between Al Ain and Al Hayer. At 9,000 feet above sea level, the plane releases the flares into the most promising white clouds, hoping to trigger rainfall.

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  Hygroscopic salt flares are attached to an aircraft during a cloud-seeding flight. Scientists in Abu Dhabi combine shooting the flares with releasing salt nanoparticles, a newer technology, into the clouds to stimulate and accelerate the condensation process and hopefully produce droplets big enough to then fall as rain.

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  Flares are released during a cloud-seeding flight between Al Ain and Al Hayer.

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  Employees walk towards a hangar at Al Ain International Airport after a cloud-seeding flight.

The UAE has been at the forefront of efforts to embrace innovation and advanced technology to bolster water security for decades.

The country launched its cloud-seeding programme in the 1990s. By the 2000s, the National Centre of Meteorology was working with global peers such as Nasa and the National Centre for Atmospheric Research in the US to further develop seeding strategies.

Seeding is a complex process, with research pouring into the field to assess its effectiveness. But it essentially involves shooting salt flares or other small materials into clouds to try to generate extra rain. Hundreds of seeding missions are conducted each year in an effort to increase rainfall in the typically dry UAE climate.

The UAE's Plant the Emirates campaign was launched last month by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to boost the country's agriculture sector and to help address food security issues.

The initiative involves setting up a national centre to promote domestic farming, with the aim of increasing agricultural production by a fifth in the next five years. Traditionally reliant on food imports, the UAE has more recently attracted significant investment in agricultural technology to increase its own output.