This plane is being sent into the sky 9,000 feet above the parched deserts.

It's headed for the most promising cloud formations with dozens of canisters of salt attached to its wings with the aim of triggering more rainfall.

The process is called 'cloud seeding'.

So, how does it actually work?

The UAE has been leading the effort to seed clouds and increase precipitation.

The country is located in one of the hottest and driest regions on earth,

where rainfall remains at less than 100 millimeters or 3.9 inches a year on average.

The effects of climate change, combined with a growing population and booming tourism have pushed up demand for water in the UAE, which has relied on expensive desalination plants that make use of seawater.

Meteorological official Abullah al-Hammadi says cloud seeding can help.

"Cloud seeding increases approximately 10 to 30 percent of the (yearly) rainfall rate, therefore it increases

water reserves, which is made available for the whole country."

The salt canisters attached to the plane's wings release salt nanoparticles into the clouds.

This stimulates and accelerates the condensation process, and produces droplets big enough to fall as rain.

Pilots based at the al-Ain airport have to be ready to take off at a moments notice, flying over the desert before directing their aircraft into the clouds.

Pilot Ahmed al-Jaberi:

"Cloud seeding is considered the second hardest challenge for pilots. When there is a cloud, we try to figure out the way we need to go in and out of it, in order to avoid thunderstorms and hail."

But experts say the method is still far cheaper than the desalination process and it does not harm the environment.

Edward Graham is a meteorologist at the University of the Highlands and Islands in Britain.

"In terms of the effects on the environment, cloud seeding nowadays, at least in the UAE just uses salt flares

and that is what you get from table salt on your kitchen table, so there is no actual harm to the environment. Traditionally, chemicals such as silver iodide, which mimics the crystal structure of ice that have

been used, but they are not used in the UAE. In terms of carbon footprint, planes that fly up into the clouds are just small planes, when compared to the billions of cars on the planet and the huge planes doing international air travels everyday, it's just a drop in the ocean in terms of carbon footprints and carbon emissions."

Other countries in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, have announced plans to try cloud

seeding as they face historic droughts.