Progress Report: January - March 2014

During this reporting quarter, the team completed the following tasks:

• Held a start-up meeting from 26-28 January 2014 in Muscat, Oman, during which the team: (1) Completed an overview of the potential research sites in Morocco and Oman and defined Al-Sharkia aquifer as the primary study site; (2) Defined existing GPS, Terrestrial Ecosystem Mapping (TEM), and resistivity ground data sets with the local water management authorities that will support survey data interpretation; and (3) Discussed team member roles and the project agenda and deliverables.

• Acquired 80 ALOS L-Band polarimetric Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) scenes from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), covering the entire area of the Al-Sharkia aquifer from 2006 to 2011. The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) also acquired research survey equipment, processing stations, and software licenses. The team prepared images and software for delivery to research partners in Oman and Morocco.

• Prepared training courses for the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Science Hassan II (IAV) and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) to be delivered with the two processing stations.

• Began SAR site characterization and localized Ground-Penetrating Radar (GPR) profiles in the Al-Sharkia area in Oman.