The fourth International Forum for Rain Investigation, held in Abu Dhabi over a period of three days, discussed a new research project that is being implemented within the country, to monitor and monitor the process of pollination clouds directly, using the (Drone) aircraft, which works to detect data related to cloud locations in real time, and to make decisions Automatically pollination, indicating that the aircraft are provided with a mechanism for dispersing ready-to-use pollination materials, with a payload of up to two kilograms.
The research stated that the most characteristic of the Drones equipped for pollination clouds will be its ability to fly for three continuous hours, indicating that the training of a team of the National Meteorological Center on the operations of these aircraft was completed, at the end of last year, and the team conducted reconnaissance trips And field surveys, in cooperation with the Center, to determine suitable locations for carrying out sorties.
In detail, the fourth edition of the International Rainfall Forum, organized by the National Meteorological Center, through the Emirates Rainfall Research Program, will be concluded today, over three days, in Abu Dhabi, while the activities of the second day of the Forum witnessed yesterday a number of specialized sessions and events, which started with a session She focused on recent developments in numerical modeling and weather forecasting and their application in the field of rainfall, and included a number of presentations on modern and innovative methods of weather modeling and prediction, and how to use them to enhance rainfall.
The second session dealt with the evaluation of the results of rain-seeking operations, during which methods and techniques that were developed and utilized to evaluate the results of rain-seeking operations were reviewed, and the participants also touched on several topics, highlighting the importance of evaluation efforts, and the methodologies that are used in the evaluation, in addition to The methods that were used lastly to evaluate the performance of the numerical model through practical tests.
While the third session focused on the transition from the research phase to the operations stage in the field of rainfall, where the participants discussed the efforts made in the framework of the field test conducted by the National Center of Meteorology in cooperation with Khalifa University and the company "SPIC", and the mechanism used to move from the testing phase to field operations, The challenges facing this stage and the techniques that help overcome them.
Participants in the forum reviewed a new research project on observing and monitoring the process of pollination of clouds directly using the Drone aircraft systems, according to the presenter of the project, who works as an associate professor in the Department of Engineering and Space at the University of "Colorado Radar" in the United States, Professor Eric Frio, That this project takes an innovative approach to increasing the amount of rain through the development and evaluation of unmanned aircraft systems that sense data on cloud locations in real time, to be vaccinated appropriate from them.
“The idea is to install accurate and lightweight devices on drones,” said Frio. “These devices were designed and calibrated to measure some meteorological elements such as wind, air bumps, and the microphysical properties of aerosol particles and clouds, and follow the appropriate conditions for the process of pollination of clouds. The data and the associated monitoring simulation system for use in the process of vaccination of withdrawals and to take the appropriate decision directly in this regard.
He added: «Control strategies that guide unmanned aircraft systems towards appropriate targets for successful implementation of pollination operations will be designed to be an innovative approach that increases the amount of rain through the development and evaluation of unmanned aircraft systems that sense the data related to the location of clouds at the actual time to be Vaccinate the appropriate clouds from them.
Frio explained that the physical specifications that indicate the possibility of pollination clouds were determined based on an analysis of data previously collected from the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, provided that instantaneous measurements from unmanned aircraft are used to make vaccination decisions independently, by incorporating weather forecasts and satellite data Synthetic and radar data to predict the appropriate areas to vaccinate clouds by unmanned aerial vehicles, which provides a mechanism that scatters ready-to-use pollination materials, whose payload reaches two kilograms, as well as its ability to fly for three continuous hours.
He revealed that the training of a team of the National Meteorological Center in the operation of unmanned aircraft was completed at the end of last year, and the team conducted exploratory trips and field surveys, in cooperation with the Center to determine the appropriate locations for the implementation of the flights, pointing out that the final selection of the site will be completed During the visit of the team this year.
- Physical specifications indicate the possibility to pollinate clouds based on the analysis of data previously collected.