The UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science’s Strategic Direction Committee (SDC) has concluded successful project evaluation site visits to the UK and Finland to assess the latest progress in two current awardee projects led by Professor Giles Harrison, professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading and Professor Hannele Korhonen, Head of the Atmospheric and Ocean Modelling group at Finnish Meteorological Institute.
ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 06th Oct, 2018) The UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science’s Strategic Direction Committee (SDC) has concluded successful project evaluation site visits to the UK and Finland to assess the latest progress in two current awardee projects led by Professor Giles Harrison, professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Reading and Professor Hannele Korhonen, Head of the Atmospheric and Ocean Modelling group at Finnish Meteorological Institute.
Taking place at the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading and a specialised laboratory at the University of Bath, UK, and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland, the site visits were intended to provide an in-depth evaluation, midway through the projects’ total time span of 3 years. The visits were carried out by an SDC Review Team and programme Secretariat members to assess the projects’ progress, feasibility of future research plans, and potential risks for the remaining award period.
Dr Abdulla Al Mandous, the Director of NCM, said: "We are very keen to follow up on the successes achieved by our awardees to ensure that their projects are on track to achieve their objectives in terms of research output quality and project timeline. Our support for these projects demonstrates our commitment to ensure the sustainability of water resources in the UAE and build global research networks to serve the common cause of water security around the world."
During their field and laboratory visits to the University of Reading and University of Bath, the SDC received updates from Professor Harrison and his team on the progress of their project and participated in a panel discussion discussing the innovative potential of the team’s ongoing research work and planned field campaign in the UAE.
Professor Korhonen’s team is currently working on the "Optimisation of Aerosol Seeding In rain enhancement Strategies (OASIS)", which aims to quantify the role of atmospheric aerosols in precipitation enhancement. In Helsinki, the SDC members evaluated the technical outcomes of recent field campaigns undertaken by Professor Korhonen’s team, toured the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s laboratories, and held a panel discussion to assess the project’s overall progress.
Alya Al Mazroui, Director of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science, said: "We are delighted at the progress achieved by Professor Harrison and Professor Korhonen, and look forward to helping realise the full potential of their innovative work through our technical resources and resident expertise. We are confident that our awardee projects will confirm the status of Abu Dhabi and the UAE as an international centre of excellence for rain enhancement research."
Launched by the Ministry of Presidential Affairs of the UAE, and managed by the NCM, the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science has already attained a leading global position in the common quest to address water security challenges through innovative scientific and technical research. Since its inception, the programme has built a global network with more than 1200 researchers from over 500 prestigious global institutions across many countries ranging from the United States to the UK, Germany and Russia in Europe, and to China and Japan in East and South East Asia.
