Saudi Gazette report
RIYADH — The Saudi Regional Cloud Seeding Program at present goals to implement its operations in six principal areas resembling Riyadh, Qassim, Hail, Makkah, along with Al-Baha and Asir. It’s deliberate to regularly develop its implementation to cowl all areas of the Kingdom, primarily based on the character of local weather research and rainfall distribution.
Cloud seeding expertise will increase the amount and high quality of rainfall by exploiting the traits of sure clouds to stimulate and speed up rainfall in particular and pre-determined areas. Rain seeding operations in Saudi Arabia are carried out utilizing plane designed for the aim, environmentally pleasant supplies in particular cloud areas, altering the delicate bodily processes inside the cloud itself.
It’s noteworthy that Saudi Arabia has established a regional cloud seeding program as one of many outcomes of the Center East Inexperienced Summit, introduced by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman as a part of the targets of the Kingdom’s Imaginative and prescient 2030. This system goals to extend rainfall ranges, create new water sources, and improve and intensify vegetation cowl to deal with the challenges associated to local weather change, desertification, and drought. Operation of this system has begun within the Riyadh, Hail, and Qassim areas, marking the primary part of rain seeding within the Kingdom.
Final yr, Saudi Arabia launched packages to localize information, plane, and trendy applied sciences, in addition to quite a few operational tasks for the Nationwide Cloud Seeding Program. These tasks aimed to construct and improve inside capabilities, guarantee enterprise sustainability, improve the protection and effectivity of cloud seeding operations, and scale back plane working prices. In addition they purpose to enhance the outputs of the Nationwide Cloud Seeding Program to realize outcomes that align with the Kingdom’s Imaginative and prescient 2030 and assist the Saudi Inexperienced Initiative and the Inexperienced Center East Summit in the direction of a sustainable environmental future.
Government Director of the Cloud Seeding Program Eng. Ayman Al-Bar recalled the primary cloud seeding experiment in Saudi Arabia, which started in 1986, adopted by devoted experiments within the Asir area in 2004 and within the central area in 2006. He famous that the true starting of this system was in 2022, when it was formally launched in Saudi Arabia, aiming to boost rainfall and enhance water assets.
Eng. Al-Bar defined that the Program’s latest cloud seeding operations have totaled roughly 752 flights, totaling 1,879 flight hours, along with 51 analysis flights that lasted roughly 169 flight hours.
He defined that the final rainmaking operation happened in Ramah governorate on Friday, Aug. 8. The operations workforce monitored climate developments and the outcomes of technical evaluation utilizing radar indicated that the clouds had been appropriate for seeding.
Eng. Al-Bar famous that these flight operations lasted roughly one hour and 20 minutes, whereas preliminary outcomes from monitoring strategies point out a constructive change within the cloud’s water content material. “The analysis workforce is at present learning the bodily traits of the clouds to assessment the consequence,” he mentioned.
Saudi Arabia is more and more eager to implement cloud seeding operations to discover new water sources to mitigate drought, put together pure and environmental assets for adaptation, and improve environmental efficiency.
Whereas the nation continues to be experiencing sizzling summer season climate, implementing rainmaking strategies on this local weather differs from different seasons of the yr as a result of nature of the clouds and the prevailing climate situations. The probabilities of chilly clouds with excessive ice crystal content material are decreased in sizzling and dry areas.
Eng. Al-Bar emphasised that summer season clouds are sometimes hotter, requiring totally different strategies, resembling cloud base seeding or cloud prime seeding for chilly clouds. The Regional Cloud Seeding Program in Saudi Arabia goals to accentuate afforestation via cloud seeding, scale back desertification, and practice nationwide cadres on this subject. Cloud seeding is a promising methodology that’s hoped to be a part of sustaining water stability, as it’s a secure, versatile, and cheap expertise.