CLIMATE RESEARCHES

Nasa aided project set to assess climate changes in UAE

Gulf news

By Barbara Bibbo Staff Reporter, Abu Dhabi

Nasa aided studies of the climate changes and meterological systems in the UAE are to be started soon. The Department of Water Resources Studies can call upon almost 150 scientists and researchers from 15 institutions across 5 countries to assess the chemical and physical characteristics of the region. Abdulla Al Mangoosh, director of DWRS said "The study will determine how atmospheric components such as dust and seasalt particles move and contribute to create clouds and other meterological phenomena. It will also assess the amount of solar energy reaching earth and its impact on our climate." Nasa will help train staff and gather data as well as calibrate and validate the satellite datum. Brent Holben from Nasa Goddard earth Sciences and Technology Centre, said "Nasa has a long-term project which aims to determine how particles dispersed in the atmousphere affect climate change. It will also find out about optical properties of thee particles and how they affect satellite signals."

Nasa are investing $5m into the project which involves; the US National Centre for Atmouspheric Research, the Naval Research Laboratory, the Climatological Research Group at University of Witwatersrand, South Africa and other institutes and research centres from the US, S.Africa and Netherlands. A two month intensive mission will start in August to measure the meterological aspects and radiation properties of the UAE atmosphere inorder to construct a better physical model.