Funding Agency: SGS
(2023-2025)
Over the past few decades, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been witnessing an increasing demand for developing new urban centers and expanding existing ones together with the associated infrastructure to cope with and facilitate the livelihood of its growing population. The most significant ongoing activities have occurred in the Provinces of Mecca and Riyadh. To cope with those activities and to ensure the success of those projects, the Saudi Geological Survey developed an initiative to identify, assess, and monitor the potential geological hazards that could adversely affect the outcomes of those projects in those two provinces (Mecca and Riyadh).
Given the large size of the two provinces, their importance, and the limited duration for the completion of the project, the KSU realized the need to seek the assistance of a team of experts to provide practical and technical support, assist in planning, and data collection, compilation, and analysis. The KSU has selected the Earth Sciences Remote Sensing (ESRS) facility given its expertise in remote sensing, GIS, informatics, paleoclimate, hydrology, and geology. In this respect, the ESRS research team will act as the Technical Advisor and Partner on this project.
This project investigates the distribution of sabkhas and sand dunes in the regions of Mecca and Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It is one of the initiative’s projects to monitor natural geological hazards and contribute to reducing their effects (initiative No. M-12-31-753). The submitted proposal includes specifications and procedures related to the study of the sabkha and dunes in the regions of Mecca and Riyadh, field tests, surface, and subsurface sampling (soil and groundwater), and laboratory tests for samples (physical, mechanical, and chemical).
The work will be conducted following the specifications and directions of the Geological Survey and comply with international standards (ASTM, BS, SBC, etc.) related to soil and groundwater for field studies and laboratory tests.