Successful Technology Trial off the world’s hottest coast

02 August 2018 / Muscat, Kiel. Fed by onshore groundwater resources, freshwater discharges from the seafloor off many coasts of the earth and mixes with the saline seawater. However, if the near-shore groundwater reservoirs are overexploited, there is a risk of seawater entering the aquifer tainting the remaining groundwater. For countries in particularly arid regions of the world that would be very critical. Against this backdrop, the Institute for Advanced Technology Integration (IATI) of the Sultanate Oman cooperates with the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Environmental Research Centre in Leipzig (UFZ) to investigate groundwater pathways onshore and offshore along the coast of the Oman.
One of the aims of the project is to develop technology which enables an autonomous wave glider to measure groundwater discharge off the coasts of Oman. Wave Gliders generally use wave energy for propulsion, while solar panels deliver energy for sensors, satellite communication and computers. This allows the device to operate autonomously in coastal waters for weeks.

An important milestone in the project has now been achieved with the first deployment of the Wave Glider off the east coast of Oman. During a cruise with the Omani vessel AL SEERAH near the city of Quriyat, the participating GEOMAR and Omani scientists successfully tested all project-relevant systems and sensors. Quriyat is one of the hottest places in the world this summer, with the lowt temperatures at night around 42 ° C. "Despite these extreme conditions, the Wave Glider worked very reliably. We are delighted", project engineer Patrick Leibold remarked.

Dr. Omar Al Abri, the project manager from Oman, also is pleased about the successful test. "The technologies developed in this project are the ticket to a variety of usage scenarios in other areas of Oman's offshore economy," he says. The government of Oman is funding the project with a total of 3.2 million euros.