Remote Sensing Research Lab Plays Host to Visiting Fulbright
Researcher
Dr. Eman Ghoneim, director of the Remote Sensing Research Lab (RSRL) in the
Department of Geography and Geology, is currently hosting Fulbright visiting
researcher, Dr. Sabah Aljenaid from the Arabian Gulf University. Drs. Ghoneim and
Aljenaid are mapping the marine benthic habitat of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Dr.
Aljenaid’s home country, using satellite imagery and GIS. These mapping efforts are
essential for managing the marine areas and will serve as a baseline for monitoring
the impacts and vulnerability due to climate change.
The marine environments constitute 91% of the total area of Bahrain. These
environments include the most important strategic resources of the Kingdom, such as
the fish stocks and their habitats, seagrass, algae, sand, and sea water used in
desalination plants. These ecosystems suffer from the continued deterioration of their
components as well as a decline in their estimated area and quantity and quality of
their habitats, because of the increase in the natural and human pressures.
Using field data collected from the marine habitats in the Kingdom, Dr. Aljenaid has
created a comprehensive map of the marine benthic environments from Landsat 8
satellite imagery by applying techniques learned through the RSRL at UNCW.
Although limited by the spatial and spectral resolutions of Landsat 8, these methods
have provided a satisfactory map of the benthic habitats within the marine area of the
Kingdom of Bahrain with an overall accuracy of 81.3%. Dr. Aljenaid will be
applying these techniques to much higher resolution WorldView-3 imagery in order
to obtain more accurate maps at a larger scale.
This study is funded in part by the Arabian Gulf University and is being completed
in collaboration with the Supreme Council of Environment, Bahrain, and 4 SCUBA
divers from AlMalkhia Rovers, academics, and specialists from the Arabian Gulf
University. Dr. Aljenaid will be continuing this research at UNCW until May 2016.
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Seagrass bed
Algae bed
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Rocky Area
Sand
Rocky area with many types of living Corals.
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