The United Arab Emirates is attempting a Wonder of the World feat of engineering by trying to build a man-made mountain probably thousands of meters tall to bring more rain to its parched lands.

The UAE has approached scientists of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), both based in Colorado in the United States, to make a detailed modeling study of this jaw dropping project. UCAR received $400,000 in 2015 to advance the study.

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Scientists from both institutions are looking at potential heights for the man-made mountain and different locations, among other needed data. When the research gets government approval, an engineering company will be tasked to determine if building the mountain is feasible at all.

The reasons for the UAE wanting more rain is obvious when one knows the realities facing citizens of this country that is home to the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa.

In summer, temperatures in Dubai, the capital of the UAE, reach 45 °C (113 °F) for days with humidity averaging over 90%. The sea temperature can hit 37 °C (99 °F). The highest recorded temperature in Dubai is 52.1 °C (126 °F). The average rainfall is only 10 mm (0.4 inches) of rain that generally falls on just two days in January. And climate change is making things a lot worse.

"What we are looking at is basically evaluating the effects on weather through the type of mountain, how high it should be and how the slopes should be," said NCAR scientist Roelof Bruintjes, lead researcher on the project.

"We will have a report of the first phase this summer as an initial step."

Bruintjes explained the project by saying mountains make air rise and create clouds that can be seeded to produce rainfall.  In nature, a mountain can help cause rainfall because its presence alters winds and causes winds to lift air containing evaporation upward, which promotes cloud formation. Those clouds can be seeded to stimulate precipitation. 

This project is daunting to say the least.

"Building a mountain isn't a simple thing," said Bruintjes.

UCAR is a nonprofit consortium of over 100 colleges and universities providing research and training in the atmospheric and related sciences. UCAR manages NCAR, a US federally funded research and development center.

TagsUnited Arab Emirates, University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Dubai, Burj Khalifa, Roelof Bruintjes