Progress Report: April - June 2014

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

• Analyzed the Advance Land Observing Satellite (ALOS )Synthetic Aperture Radar images for the Al-Sharkia site in Oman and mapped shallow buried fractures with upper ground surface moisture, using polarimetric HH and HV signatures.

• Obtained resistivity data about the Al- Sharkia aquifer from the Ministry of Water Resources in Oman.

• Elaborated a model of groundwater budget (storage-depletion) in Oman, using Python as programming language. The aim is to observe and understand possible depletion patterns over the next 100 years. The data improved in the model are a combination of well logs data available in published reports and the pumping rates obtained by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)-Aquastat database.

• Performed a primary desktop analysis of the principal groundwater resources in Oman and the surrounding areas. Prepared a summary report describing the current state of knowledge on the Oman aquifer systems. This report will be used in the study science write-up and as basic knowledge for further water policy analysis.

• Updated training courses for both IAV and SQU that will be delivered with the two processing stations for each Center.

• Acquired academic books on groundwater hydrology and geophysical field survey methods that will be given to the Institute for Agronomy and Veterinary Science Hassan II (IAV) during the training planned for July. The books will be used as academic references, supporting and complementing the training to increase IAV’s readiness for the September survey.

• Visited the Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) and discussed their involvement in the project. QEERI will support a survey in Qatar in spring 2015 after the primary survey in Oman.

• IAV, SQU, and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) agreed to jointly undertake the field survey in Oman during the last week of September.

• IAV, SQU, and Caltech agreed to perform the first training on Radar Remote Sensing in Morocco from 20-26 July 2014. Dr. Essam Heggy, from Caltech, will perform the training. Dr. Mohamed Rouchdi, from IAV, will be responsible for the selection of participants from IAV and other Moroccan national partners interested in the topic.