Khalifa University proudly took home 3rd place at the latest American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Imperial Barrel Award Program-Middle East Region. The program is an annual competition for geoscience graduate students from universities around the world. Winners are awarded scholarship funds for their schools.����

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The KU Team was composed of Earth Sciences graduate students Abdulquadri O. Dauda, Abdulwaris Ramoni Ajagunjeun, Ahmed Khaled Eleslambouly, Andreas Fernandez Moncada, and Omar Aldhanhani under the guidance of their team advisor Dr. Mohammad Alsuwaidi, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences.

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Dr. Alsuwaidi explained, “The team went through a rigorous two-month program where they analyzed a large dataset and assessed whether to invest in a particular petroleum play or not. They examined data in geology, geophysics, petrophysics, and petroleum volumetric estimations, which usually requires teamwork from experts such as geologists, petrophysicists, geophysicists, and petroleum engineers.”

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The team was able to identify 13 different leads within the area that covered aspects such as environmental risks, reserves estimation, etc. They then delivered the results of their analysis to a panel of industry experts. Winners were selected based on their presentation’s technical quality, clarity, and originality.

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“In oil companies, projects like these are conducted for at least a year, but the students were able to complete the analysis and assessment in two months. Participants of these competitions usually make excellent hydrocarbon explorationists,” Dr. Alsuwaidi added.

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Team captain Ahmed K. Eleslambouly said, “It has been a great experience for me and the team as we accomplished work that usually takes a year or more within a very narrow time schedule. I am very proud that we were able to tackle most of the problems and come up with creative ideas and multiple leads within the study area.”

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“The competition was challenging, time consuming, and required much critical thinking. Although it was tough, the outcome for me and my time was worth it and amazing in terms of learning new technical and academic skills, gaining valuable industry knowledge, and getting familiar with the workflow of petroleum and geoscience projects for well-known companies in the oil and gas industry,” Omar Aldhanhani added.

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“It was hard to balance time working on the competition, our own research, semester projects and other school requirements but working with a team of enthusiastic colleagues and the constant encouragement of our faculty advisor, Dr. Mohammed Alsuwaidi, made the experience more pleasant and worthwhile. Our appreciation goes to the Earth Science Department, faculty, and Khalifa University for their support all through the preparation until the delivery of our presentation,” commented Abdulquadri Alabere.

Ara Maj Cruz
Creative Writer
18 May 2022

The post Khalifa University Takes 3rd Place Win at the AAPG Imperial Barrel Award Program appeared first on Khalifa University.

Khalifa University and the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi found that reduced human-caused air pollution during the Covid-19 lockdown was accompanied by increased surface-level winds, resulting in higher concentrations of dust and particulate matter.��

Research has shown that the global lockdowns seen during the start of the Covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the climate of several regions around the world by improving air quality. However, some regions actually saw increases in particulate matter in the atmosphere, as a result of a dustier than expected air.��

Dr. Diana Francis, Head of the Environmental and Geophysical Sciences Lab (ENGEOS), Dr. Ricardo Fonseca, Research Scientist, and Dr. Narendra Nelli, Postdoctoral Fellow, along with Oriol Teixido, Ruqaya Mohamed and Dr. Richard Perry from the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi, investigated the increased dust activity over the Arabian Peninsula in combination with an increase in wind speed during the Covid-19 lockdown period in 2020. They found that while anthropogenic emissions were reduced, particulate matter concentrations from natural sources increased. Their results were published in Aeolian Research.��

The main winds driving dust emissions over the Arabian Peninsula are known as Shamal winds. They result from an East-West pressure dipole with a low over the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent and a high over northern Africa. During the lockdown, emissions reduction over the Indian subcontinent resulted in a deeper low pressure, which caused an increase in Shamal winds over the Arabian Peninsula leading to more dust emissions and higher concentrations of particulate matter over the UAE and surrounding countries.

The policies aimed at restricting mobility and promoting social distancing in an attempt to control the spread of the virus also impacted atmospheric and oceanic conditions through changes in human-caused emissions of pollutants. The global Covid-19 lockdowns resulted in a reduction of transportation and�� closure of industrial facilities closures during a two month period, which resulted in�� a seven percent drop in global carbon dioxide emissions from human activity.��

At the lockdown peak in April 2020, regions responsible for around 90 percent of global CO2 emissions were under some level of confinement. The resultant drop in emissions led to a reduction of the mean sea surface temperatures (SSTs) of 0.5 degrees Celsius in most coastal areas, with the SSTs in the north Indian Ocean decreasing by about 5 percent. The cleaner air also led to lower night-time land surface and air temperatures, with urban areas experiencing a more pronounced reduction than rural ones. During the daytime, on the other hand, the surface and air above were warmer due to less scattering and absorption of the incoming UV radiation from the sun.��

In more polluted environments, like in the four major cities of India (Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai), the impact was even more dramatic with the monthly mean temperature dropping by up to 3 degrees Celsius.��

As temperatures varied, near-surface wind speeds were also affected, as winds are a response to local-scale pressure and temperature gradients.��

In the UAE, reduced emissions led to a 40 percent decrease in the concentration of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, sulfuric dioxide, and carbon monoxide, compared to pre-lockdown levels. However, the particulate matter concentrations increased by up to 45 percent.��

“This was unexpected,” Dr. Francis said. “Published works reported a general reduction in particulate matter during the lockdown period, owing to lower emissions and changes in precipitation. However, some cities in Europe and China saw an increase in particulate matter in the atmosphere due to long-range transport of dust. In fact, in Morocco, the decrease in local emissions was offset by long-range transported aerosols from non-local emissions. It is important to understand the impact of the large-scale circulation on dust activity over the Arabian Peninsula and its effects on air quality throughout the lockdown period given that the region is one of the largest sources of mineral dust on Earth with mineral dust potentially accounting for more than 40 percent of the particulate matter levels.”

The researchers found that while there was a reduction in anthropogenic, or human caused, emissions in the Arabian Peninsula during the lockdown period, the particulate matter concentrations actually increased due to higher dust loadings. This was due to the increased Shamal winds that caused more dust aerosols to be picked up from dust sources in the Arabian Peninsula and then transported across the region and beyond.��

Compared to the four years prior to 2020, the dust loading in 2020 was higher over the majority of the eastern Arabian Peninsula, with hotspots in Kuwait, Iraq, and neighboring Saudi Arabia.” Dr. Francis said.

Dust aerosols are the main contributor to particulate matter concentrations and long-range transport of aerosols can explain aerosol increases in regions further from loading areas. The peaks in dust loading go hand in hand with the peaks in particulate matter, according to the researchers, as the increased dust emission was driven by high near-surface winds in response to the change in temperature and pressure gradients.

“While the reduction in the concentration of pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, has been widely reported, in the vast majority of published studies the particulate matter in several regions around the world also decreased,” Dr. Francis said.��

“Over the eastern Arabian Peninsula, however, it actually increased due to more active wind flow. This ��ݮ��Ƶ the complex nature of dust emissions and its relationship to anthropogenic and natural effects. Having less man-made pollutants does not necessarily mean having a cleaner environment. It is essential that dust aerosols and their feedback on the regional climate should be considered when establishing national and regional strategies for anthropogenic emission reduction.”

Jade Sterling
Science Writer
26 April 2022

The post Why Reduced Emissions over the Arabian Peninsula Did Not Make the Air Any Cleaner during the Covid-19 Lockdown in 2020 appeared first on Khalifa University.

A team of students from Khalifa University has won third place, beating out five other teams, at the Middle East Imperial Barrel Award Program 2021, a joint program of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) and the AAPG Foundation. It is an annual prospective basin evaluation competition for geoscience and engineering students from different universities around the world.��

This year, five KU students participated in the competition, including:

• Noura Naji Alzaabi, BSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from the UAE
• Omar Al Attas, BSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from the UAE
• Ali Al Sabbagh, BSc in Petroleum Engineering student�� from the UAE
• Sara Abd El-Samad Salem, MSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from Egypt
• Alejandro Diaz Acosta, MSc in Petroleum Geosciences student from Mexico

The team faculty advisor was Dr. Mohammad Alsuwaidi, Assistant Professor of Earth Sciences.

The students underwent an eight-week intensive program where they worked as exploration geologists and analyzed a large dataset — including geology, geophysics, land, production infrastructure, and other relevant materials —�� in order to evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of a prospective sedimentary basin.��

“The Imperial Barrel Award organized by the AAPG is a great opportunity for our students to use their skills in Petroleum Geosciences and Petroleum Engineering to work on an actual hydrocarbon exploration project. They were provided with geosciences data including seismic, well logs, production data, and other data related to a hydrocarbon prospect. They spent eight weeks studying, analyzing, and integrating all data to present their recommendations to a panel of judges (who acted like investors) to develop the prospect. Such projects usually are conducted by experts in exploration teams in oil and gas companies over many months/years. This is a great opportunity for students to learn and understand how to evaluate and assess petroleum prospects,” explained Dr. Alsuwaidi.

Alejandro Diaz Acosta reflected on his experience: “The AAPG Imperial Barrel Award competition was a tremendous amount of work that allowed me to broaden my industry network, develop my geological evaluation skills and collaborate with great people. I appreciate the ambition of everyone involved in this wonderful experience.”

Ali Al Sabbagh expressed a similar sentiment: “It was a great experience working with a diverse team, with different backgrounds, majors and academic levels to achieve a single common goal. This competition helps students apply the theoretical knowledge into real life practical projects. Also, I believe it is important for students to not restrict themselves to a certain major or discipline, and this competition gave us an opportunity to learn a broader range of knowledge and skills.”

More information about the competition is available at

Erica Solomon
Senior Publication Specialist
5 April 2021

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