Sabkha is a salt flat that contains different types of evaporates like gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O) which is a semisoluble salt. Gypsum rocks dissolves when it is subjected to water flow creating cavities in the subsurface threating by this the underground and above ground infrastructure safety. This research aims at assessing the risks associated with evaporites by focusing on the gypsum behavior when it react with flowing water. Artificial gypsum samples are subjected to flow under confining pressures to simulate the underground conditions. The flow rate effect on the gypsum samples kinetics is studied.
The results show that when the flow rate increases, the concentration decreases but the total amount of the gypsum dissolved is higher when compared to the lower flow rate experiments. Also, the existence of an initial fracture (hole within the sample), increases the dissolution rate by increasing the contacting area between the flowing water and the gypsum.
Smart homes are an integral part of smart city and can generate energy consumption data in the order of Petabytes. This thesis proposes an effective methodology on how to collect, transmit, store, analyze and visualize big data and develop meaningful insights to improve energy delivery and consumption. The thesis utilizes the recent open source distributed file system techniques and map-reduce algorithms. The data processing, analysis and presentation will be developed individually to monetize the insight value of data in the form of dashboards consisting of charts, graphs, and reports. The dashboards can be accessed by utility and consumers to better operate and manage their energy generation, distribution, and consumption. Finally, a performance evaluation test will be conducted for each architecture implementation based on different qualitative parameters such as scalability, latency, and throughput. The outcome of the proposed techniques will be compared with the conventional existing dimensional modeling framework.
The aridity of climate requires accurate assessments of land suitability for optimum exploitation of irrigated agriculture which accounts for non-renewable sources. This research aims at assessing and prioritizing areas in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi for large-scale agriculture using a number of datasets (climate conditions, water potential, soil capabilities, topography, and land management). All datasets were systematically aggregated using an AHP-GIS model. A hierarchal structure is built and pairwise comparisons matrices are used to calculate weights of the criteria. In order to preserve some flexibility for future agricultural pathways, different types of crops are considered. Results show that jojoba and sorghum show the best capabilities to survive under the current conditions, followed by date palm, fruits, and forage. Introducing desalinated water and TSE enhanced land capability for irrigated agriculture. These findings have positive implications for the decision-making process of land alteration for agricultural use and addressing sustainable land management and food security.
The aim of this study is to interpret a total of 16 seismic sections, 14 acquired in Al Jaww Plain (which lies adjacent to JabalHafit in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates) and 2 seismic sections north of Al Ain. Previous studies indicate the presence of four main sequences in the region namely: the Wasia Group, the Fiqa Formation, the allochthonous unit and the Tertiary and Upper Cretaceous units. Application of several attributes will reveal small-scale features such as faultss which would help draw a comprehensive picture of the subsurface. Moreover, Gardner's Equation/Lindseth's equation would be used to draw estimations for density which would then be used during seismic inversion. The main objectives of this study involve marking the horizons pertaining to the aforementioned formations, identifying the thickness of the evaporite beds atop the Fars formation, identifying the structural and stratigraphic trends in the study area, comparing the northern and southern areas of Al Ain for differences and confirming if the Juweiza formations serves as a glide plane.
This paper discusses the influence of urban design attributes (streets width, alleyways width, number of plots, plot coverage, and buildings heights) on the solar radiation on building facades and surrounding area (streets and open areas). The study is conducted to reduce the solar radiation in neighborhoods that is located in hot-arid climates where cooling demand is high and solar radiation is a major factor in the increase of temperature of buildings and surrounding area. Abu Dhabi neighborhoods where taken as a case study in this paper. 12 samples were selected from the different neighborhoods in Abu Dhabi. Solar radiation was measured using Rhino and Grasshopper.
The biological treatment of wastewater relay on microbial metabolism; it considered as the main contributor which determines the wastewater treatment efficiency. Therefore, it is significant to define the composition of microbial community and examine if there is an association between microbial structure and having more cleaner water or the overall performance of the wastewater treatment plant. In addition, wastewater treatment has a valuable byproduct which is methane so, in this research also we will investigate on the relationship between the microbial community and the production of methane gas. The samples have been collected in the last six months and will continue for the next six months. DNA was extracted and they will be sent for sequencing. The results will be analyzed using QIIME software. The conclusion of this research will be examining if there is a significant association between microbial communities, treatment efficiency and methane gas production
Obesity is a big challenge facing many adolescents nowadays. The obesity rate among the United Arab Emirates youth is two to three times greater than the international standards. This paper aims to study the factors that contribute to the decision making of walking to and from school. It also presents how the urban form (built environment) effects and facilitates the active travel of students to and from school. The study assesses and measures the walkability around schools. The data used for this study is collected from surveys distributed to students, parents, and school administrations. The questionnaires administrated the barriers and perception of students and their parents about walking to school in Al Ain. This study could potentially contribute to the decision making by targeting the policymakers as such factors could lead to consider infrastructure improvements, pedestrian and bicyclist safety education and finally traffic enforcement. Moreover, the aim is to increase the demand for sustainable traffic mode.
More than 5000 mosques located in UAE. A certain methodology can direct the mosque into sustainability. Electricity and water one of the main issues concerning sustainability. Ablution has been performed by Muslims every day. Many prayers waste more than 30% of clean water during the ablution. This wasted water goes to drain without a second use. Although the skin of human has been interacted with this water without including any chemicals or harmful contaminations. The methodology is to direct this waste water to irrigate green lands. The second method is to use the potential solar power generation space located in the mosque to supply the grid network. A field case study has been managed to look for a suitable mosque which sustain a good use of his property. Additionally, running a survey have been accomplish, which helps to understand the society awareness level and rise it at the same time.
Within UAE's vision of space exploration, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) have adopted a graduate program for space concentration. Students under the program are required to produce a CubeSat that serves educational purposes for the institute and the country. In order to provide full control over the small satellite, a ground station (GS) was established within the campus. A software is required to deliver total controllability over the communication between the GS and the satellite. The GS software presents the users with the ability to send and receive data from and to the satellite. The software utilizes North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) database in a Two-Line Element (TLE) format of every satellite's orbital information to provide automatic tracking of the chosen one. The software is able to extract information from different satellites that provide open data and display it as text or graph for easy analysis. Since the satellite have a small window of interaction with GS, multiple GSs in different areas may help in obtaining more information. A common platform in which these GSs can share what they have is needed. This paper introduces GS software and a network website that allows other GSs to contribute in data and knowledge sharing.
Extending the concept of texture to the geometry of a mesh manifold surface, opened the way to the idea of classifying 3D relief patterns as an emerging topic in 3D Computer Vision, with several potential applications. In this paper, we propose an original modelling solution to address this novel task. Following the recent introduction of the LBP computation framework on mesh manifolds (mesh-LBP), we first extend this framework to the different variants of 2D LBP by defining mesh-LBP variants. The compliance of these extensions with the original LBP in terms of uniformity is also investigated.
