ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Scientists working for the ruler of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates say they've used weather technology to create rain in the desert.
Most of the artificially created storms were at the height of the summer in July and August when there is historically no rain at all, Britain's Daily Mail reported Monday.
Scientists working for United Arab Emirates President Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan have been using giant ionizers, metal antennas on steel poles, to generate fields of negatively charged particles.
The particles attract tiny specks of dust ever-present in the atmosphere in desert regions, and are carried up from the particle emitter by rising air over the hot desert.
Once the dust particles reach the right height for cloud formation, the charged particles attract water molecules present 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 that can create clouds and rain, the researchers say.
The founder of the Swiss company in charge of the project, Metro Systems International, says they've had success creating rainstorms in Abu Dhabi's eastern Al Ain region.
"We have achieved a number of rainfalls," Helmut Fluhrer says.
Some scientists are viewing the results with caution because Abu Dhabi is a coastal state and can experience natural summer rainfall when air picks up moisture from the warm ocean before dropping it on land.
