Prof. Eric Frew was selected as one of three awardees of the Third Cycle of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science. He leads of team of researchers that will receive $1.5M for their project titled “Targeted observation and seeding using autonomous unmanned aircraft systems”. The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science is focused on strengthening global water security and devising the innovative solutions needed to aid people around the world at risk of water stress.
This project addresses an innovative approach towards autonomous enhancement of precipitation: to develop new sensing technologies, to create new data assimilation tools, to design novel targeted sampling and delivery strategies, and to integrate them into an unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for real-time, autonomous guidance of rainfall enhancement operations.
The main goal of this research is to develop and assess an autonomous UAS that utilizes in-situ real time data to sense, target and implement seeding. This research will also improve technology that assists in traditional targeting with manned aircraft. The UAS developed here will include sensors designed to provide real-time in situ measurements to support operational flight guidance of the aircraft to navigate autonomously to areas of suitable temperature, relative humidity, updraft velocity, aerosol size distribution and droplet size distribution for best targeting. The project will culminate in a month-long field campaign in the United Arab Emirates to assess the system in realistic conditions.