Articles | Volume 15, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-109-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-109-2024
Research article
 | 
30 Jan 2024
Research article |  | 30 Jan 2024

Scaling artificial heat islands to enhance precipitation in the United Arab Emirates

Oliver Branch, Lisa Jach, Thomas Schwitalla, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Volker Wulfmeyer

Related authors

Relationships Between Surface Fluxes and Boundary Layer Dynamics: Statistics at the Land-Atmosphere Feedback Observatory (LAFO)
Syed Saqlain Abbas, Andreas Behrendt, Oliver Branch, and Volker Wulfmeyer
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3878,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3878, 2024
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Sensitivity of land–atmosphere coupling strength to changing atmospheric temperature and moisture over Europe
Lisa Jach, Thomas Schwitalla, Oliver Branch, Kirsten Warrach-Sagi, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Earth Syst. Dynam., 13, 109–132, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-109-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-109-2022, 2022
Short summary
Seasonal and diurnal performance of daily forecasts with WRF V3.8.1 over the United Arab Emirates
Oliver Branch, Thomas Schwitalla, Marouane Temimi, Ricardo Fonseca, Narendra Nelli, Michael Weston, Josipa Milovac, and Volker Wulfmeyer
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 1615–1637, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1615-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-1615-2021, 2021
Short summary
Analysis of an extreme weather event in a hyper-arid region using WRF-Hydro coupling, station, and satellite data
Youssef Wehbe, Marouane Temimi, Michael Weston, Naira Chaouch, Oliver Branch, Thomas Schwitalla, Volker Wulfmeyer, Xiwu Zhan, Jicheng Liu, and Abdulla Al Mandous
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 19, 1129–1149, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-1129-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-19-1129-2019, 2019
Short summary
Simulation of semi-arid biomass plantations and irrigation using the WRF-NOAH model – a comparison with observations from Israel
O. Branch, K. Warrach-Sagi, V. Wulfmeyer, and S. Cohen
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 18, 1761–1783, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-1761-2014,https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-18-1761-2014, 2014

Related subject area

Topics: Atmosphere | Interactions: Land/atmosphere interactions | Methods: Earth system and climate modeling
Impact of groundwater representation on heat events in regional climate simulations over Europe
Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube, Niklas Wagner, Klaus Goergen, Carina Furusho-Percot, Carl Hartick, and Stefan Kollet
Earth Syst. Dynam., 15, 167–189, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-167-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-15-167-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Abdulrahman, S. A.: Water shortage in GCC countries: transferring water from Iraqi Kurdistan Region, Int. J. Environ. Stud., 77, 191–207, https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2019.1690335, 2020. 
Al Azhar, M., Temimi, M., Zhao, J., and Ghedira, H.: Modeling of circulation in the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman: Skill assessment and seasonal thermohaline structure, J. Geophys. Res.-Ocean., 121, 1700–1720, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JC011038, 2016. 
Albannay, S., Kazama, S., Oguma, K., Hashimoto, T., and Takizawa, S.: Water demand management based on water consumption data analysis in the Emirate Of Abu Dhabi, Water, 13, 2827, https://doi.org/10.3390/w13202827, 2021. 
Albergel, C., de Rosnay, P., Balsamo, G., Isaksen, L., and Muñoz-Sabater, J.: Soil Moisture Analyses at ECMWF: Evaluation Using Global Ground-Based In Situ Observations, J. Hydrometeorol., 13, 1442–1460, https://doi.org/10.1175/JHM-D-11-0107.1, 2012. 
Al Hosari, T., Al Mandous, A., Wehbe, Y., Shalaby, A., al Shamsi, N., al Naqbi, H., al Yazeedi, O., al Mazroui, A., and Farrah, S.: The UAE Cloud Seeding Program: A Statistical and Physical Evaluation, Atmosphere, 12, 1013, https://doi.org/10.3390/ATMOS12081013, 2021. 
Download
Short summary
In the United Arab Emirates, water scarcity is reaching a crisis point, and new methods for obtaining freshwater are urgently needed. Regional climate engineering with large artificial heat islands can enhance desert precipitation by increasing cloud development. Through model simulation, we show that heat islands of 20 × 20 km or larger can potentially produce enough annual rainfall to supply thousands of people. Thus, artificial heat islands should be made a high priority for further research.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint