Sharjah to use satellite images to detect underground water

A new research programme to detect underground water by using satellite images will be conducted in the Northern Emirates by the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority in coordination with Boston University.

The authority's monthly magazine "Anwar" quoted an official as saying, "Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Sharjah and Chairman of the authority's board of directors, signed an agreement recently with Boston University on the use of space images for underground water exploration in Sharjah and other Northern Emirates." The project will be completed in three years.

"It will try to identify the potential of underground water resources by analysing satellite images of the area," the official said. It will help create a modern digital and geographical database to plan future underground water projects.

It will also promote economic and industrial development, utility management and identify priorities in developing underground water resources according to actual requirement.

According to the agreement, two nationals will be trained at Boston University on fieldwork methods and techniques. Dr Farouq Al Baz, Director of the Centre of Remote Sensing at Boston University, will supervise the programme.

"The project will help prepare a long-term strategic plan for the rational use of underground water resources," Al Baz said.

"The first phase will involve surveying the history of underground water resources in the region during the last few decades. These surveys will also cover current well fields of underground water, production rates and the topography of the area."

The images will help compile a database to be used in exploring underground water resources. They will also be used in other fields of development and to monitor environmental change.

"The Centre for Remote Sensing has conducted similar projects in desert environments, particularly in Egypt and Oman," Al Baz said.

He added that investigations have shown that areas with a large accumulation of sand hosted the most underground water because the desert sand was originally carried by rivers and streams. When the climate became dry, the wind reshaped the sand into dunes and in the process covered many surface channels.