Regional Cloud Seeding and Rainfall Enhancement in Saudi Arabia: Preliminary Observations and Insights from 2022 Using EUMETSAT CMSAF GIRAFEv1 CDR

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) initiated a Regional Cloud Seeding Program (RCSP) in 2022 to enhance precipitation over the southwestern and central parts of the country. This study presents an overview of RCSP cloud seeding operations conducted from 2022 to 2024, along with preliminary results on precipitation enhancement during the autumn season of 2022.

Precipitation data from the Global Interpolated Rainfall Estimation (GIRAFE) dataset, provided by EUMETSAT Climate Monitoring Satellite Application Facility (CM SAF), were used to investigate the relationship between precipitation anomalies and cloud seeding operations. The analysis focused on identifying spatial patterns where high precipitation anomalies coincided with regions of elevated cloud seeding flare density. These regions were categorized to evaluate the potential influence of cloud seeding activities.

This exploratory study highlights spatial correlations between cloud seeding operations and rainfall patterns, without accounting for additional meteorological or synoptic variables. The findings contribute to understanding the spatial dynamics of cloud seeding operations and their potential role in enhancing precipitation in arid regions, offering valuable insights for the optimization of weather modification strategies.