Measuring
the World and Beyond
Dubai Municipality & DOME
International LLC Using SeaSondes
to Measure Currents & Waves
From Palm Jumeriah to Port Rashid
along the Dubai Coast.
Image shows Dubai coastline and impressive offshore man-made islands: The
Palm Jumeriah development (shown at image bottom) and The World Islands
development (shown at image center). SeaSonde-produced 2-D surface
current vectors are shown surrounding The World archipelago.
Click image to enlarge
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Located inside the Arabian Gulf
on the Arabian Peninsula, Dubai is home to some of the new millennium’s
boldest engineering construction projects. Records are being made here,
with projects such as The Palm Islands that are the largest man-made islands
in the world. The latest project, named “The World” is an archipelago
of 300 manmade islands laid out in the shape of an earth map. These “resort
islands”, located just a few km offshore, will support multi-million
dollar dwellings and vacation amenities. Constructed primarily with dredged
sand, and positioned with very little spacing between each, understanding
water flow dynamics and sediment transport is critical.
The Dubai Municipality (DM) established in 1954 is responsible for city planning
and infrastructure upkeep, including development, public health and environmental
affairs. Decisions made by the DM today relating to the new island development
projects will have longlasting effects on this emirate. Given the gravity of
their duties, DM is utilizing the most advanced technologies and expert consultants
to help them in the responsibilities they are charged with regarding coast stabilization.
The application of state of the art monitoring and modeling tools was identified
by the Dubai Municipality as a vehicle for developing an understanding of the
prevailing coastal processes and effects of coastal line changes. One of the
main aims of the project is to enhance the existing Dubai Coastal Zone Monitoring
Program which has been running since 2002 using a variety of technologies monitoring
natural processes in the coastal zone. In 2008 the DM Coastal Zone and Waterways
Management Section contracted with the company DOME International LLC for implementing
a SeaSonde network to continuously monitor the waves and currents along their
coastline. System installation and commissioning was completed in December 2008.
The outputs of the project includes speed and direction of the sea surface currents
in a meticulous manner and also the period, significant height and dominant direction
of waves. SeaSonde data outputs are correlating extremely well with other available
sensor data from the area, and are revealing the region 2-D dynamics. Data will
soon be posted regularly on the DM’s official web site: www.dubaicoast.ae.
Dome International LLC, with 10 offices in the Middle East Region, is a leading
health, safety and environment consultancy firm inside the UAE.
| SeaSonde antennas in Dubai |
Click images to enlarge |
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Correlation between Umm Suqueim tide station
and CODAR
total vector currents from DMRS and UMMS. |
Wave plots of DMRS CODAR data (top)
and JOB ADCP wave data on 17 Dec. 2008
(obtained from Dubai Municipality website). |
All Data Shown Are Provided Courtesy of Dubai Municipality & DOME International
LLC. |
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