Research Projects

Oil spill Index (OSI) to Sentinel-2 satellite data of ESA to map oil spills

Oil spill incidents occur due to various reasons and contaminate the water body and forming oil sludge in the sea and along the coast. The oil spill affects severely the seagrasses, coral reefs, aquaculture, desalination plants, etc. in the marine environment and affects the economy of the areas including tourism activities. In this context, the Environmental Science Center (ESC), Qatar University researched the oil spills of Mauritius (August 06, 2020) and Norilsk (May 29, 2020) using Sentinel data of the European Space Agency (ESA) joining with a research team from the University of Mauritius (Mauritius), Sultan Qaboos University (Oman), State Hydrological Institute (Russia), and National Institute of Technology (India).

The team developed an oil spill index to Sentinel-2 optical satellite data to map oil spills of the marine environment (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749121001962?via%3Dihub, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215016121001205?via%3Dihub, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-83260-7,) and the indices are online in the Sentinel-hub now as Oil Spill Index (OSI) https://custom-scripts.sentinel-hub.com/sentinel-2/oil-spill-index/. The site links the EO browser (Earth Observation browser) to map oil spills of the area interested using the indices in the global data by selecting the date of oil spill incident for research scientists worldwide. The OSI index is the first to Sentinel-2 optical data of ESA (European Space Agency) to map oil spills.

Janan RV Weekly Cruise Monitoring

Within the framework of the efforts exerted to enhance the role of the Environmental Sciences Center, and through its various environmental programs and studies, including the marine environment. A new work plan for the research vessel Janan was launched on Wednesday 7/1/2021 that includes periodic monitoring to the marine environment of the State of Qatar from eight different stations.

The locations of the eight stations within the Qatar waters

These stations covering the northern, eastern and southern regions in the territorial waters of the State of Qatar. This study aims to monitor many variables at the selected stations over an extended period, including:

Follow-up and collection of primary data and chemical and physical variables (temperature, salinity, pH, etc.) of marine water components.
Collecting data on the soil of the bottoms of these stations and analyzing their components.
Collecting biological data and samples, including phytoplankton and zooplankton, benthic fauna, and fish.

Station	Latitude (˚)	Longitude (˚)	Bottom Depth (m)
Station 1	24˚ 48’00” N	51˚ 40’00” E	13
Station 2	24˚ 55’00” N	51˚ 45’00” E	30
Station 3	25˚ 12’00” N	51˚ 46’00” E	15
Station 4	25˚ 25’00” N	51˚ 47’00” E	20
Station 5	25˚ 42’00” N	51˚ 56’50” E	22
Station 6	25˚ 55’50” N	51˚ 53’00” E	16
Station 7	26˚ 15’00” N	51˚ 30’00” E	17
Station 8	26˚ 27’50” N	51˚ 20’00” E	22

A number of researchers and technicians of the center participated in this trip.

Efficient catalyzers from waste shells

Proposal: Development of efficient catalyzers from waste shells for the production of high purity biodiesel from the household cooking waste oil

Cooking/frying oil is a common kitchen waste that creates severe ecological, municipal and environmental issues. the enormous technological advancements led to great innovations in various fields, particularly smart solutions to resolve serious pollution problems such reduction of harmful gas emissions and proper disposal of hazardous industrial wastes as well as household waste.

In this study, waste seashells and limestones will be collected from beaches in Qatar to be processed in the ESC laboratories to serve as heterogeneous catalysts for the production of high purity biodiesel from the kitchen waste frying oil. This project will contribute to the advancement of knowledge and know-how of the school students and will raise their awareness about environmental problems. The students will be trained on their assigned tasked and mentored by ESC skilled staff.

The Supervisory Team

High School Research Experience Program (HSREP), 2^nd cycle: HSREP02-1231-190027