The Environment Agency–Abu Dhabi (EAD) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with The Cyprus Institute and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Germany, regarding cooperation on a major atmospheric research project named Atmospheric Research Expedition to Abu Dhabi (AREAD).
The agreement will see an EAD research vessel fitted with advanced monitoring equipment supplied and operated by researchers of the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center (CARE-C) of The Cyprus Institute, a leading regional Center of Excellence for air pollution and climate change research, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, a leading research institute focusing on chemical processes in the Earth system.
Led by the Agency, the parties will collaborate on an oceanographic air quality and climate change monitoring expedition – a world-first that will cover three continents and eight major bodies of water, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Gulf covering a distance of more than 10,000 km. Around 30 high-profile experts from the 3 parties are involved in this expedition.
Sailing off the coasts of 25 countries, starting in Spain and ending in the UAE, the epic scientific undertaking will add valuable new data and contribute significantly to our understanding of coastal and marine air quality and climate change. More than 22 different parameters will be monitored, including air quality regulated parameters, greenhouse gas concentrations, as well as volatile organic compounds and aerosol properties.
To date, air quality data has been predominantly collected from land-based systems, while most of the air that impacts Abu Dhabi traverses seas and oceans, influencing local air quality in populated areas of the emirate when making landfall. An instrumented vessel offers the ideal platform from which to study the physical and chemical processes that occur offshore.
The expedition started on 25th November in the North Atlantic and will traverse the Mediterranean Sea, Gulf of Suez, Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, ending in the Arabian Gulf and Abu Dhabi water in December of this year.