Masdar portal to track regional weather in real-time

The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Abu Dhabi has launched a web portal for environmental data including forecasts for the Arabian Gulf with hourly updates.
Individual researchers and organisations can obtain in-depth coastal environmental data as well as weather forecasts for five days in advance from http://earth.masdar.ac.ae.
The portal, an online observatory, is open for all but registered users will have access to advanced functions.
"Being able to accurately monitor the environment of the UAE and wider region is necessary for effective natural resource management and preservation. The information this tool provides will allow tracking of environmental changes in the region in real-time," pointed out Dr Behjat Al Yousuf, Interim Provost at Masdar Institute.
Developed by a team led by Dr Marouane Temimi, Associate Professor, Water and Environmental Engineering programme at Masdar Institute, the portal offers information on the state of the Arabian Gulf, including sea currents, temperature, salinity and other seawater quality parameters related to oil spills and red tides.
"We have included an example of an oil spill to showcase our capability to track and predict the trajectories of not only coastal hazards like oil spills and red tides, but also dust storms and flooding, using satellite imagery and modelling," Dr Temimi added.
In addition, the portal includes some of the most recent satellite images of the region and can provide information on oil spills, red tide events, weather conditions from remote sensing images, 'in situ' observations, or advanced numerical models.
"We believe this data portal is set to become the first destination of several end-users like government agencies, desalination plant operators, oil companies, ports, and others who are interested in monitoring environmental processes in the UAE and the region," added Dr. Temimi.
The first to benefit from this online observatory may be Masdar Institute itself.
In June last year, Dr. Temimi's Ocean Colour Group at Masdar Institute generated significant interest through its water quality monitoring research, which includes detection and tracking of coastal water threats such as harmful Algal Blooms and oil spills using satellite imagery.
Now, with the launch of the web-based regional observatory, the research team at Masdar Institute aims to expand and include information on air quality, as well as assessment of water resources.
reporters@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi