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1 Sharjah Geographic Information Systems Symposium (SGIS07) 10 May 2007, UAE

An Intelligent Energy Atlas for the United Arab Emirates Piers Campbell and Said Elnaffar Assistant Professors College of IT, UAE University Al-Ain, UAE, P.O. Box 17555 +971 (50) 831-0952, {p.campbell, elnaffar}@uaeu.ac.ae

Type of Participation:

X

Oral Presentation

Poster Session

Abstract: We propose the development of an Intelligent Energy Atlas [1] for the United Arab Emirates. This project will produce an essential tool which will have a wide variety of applications and uses. The Atlas will act as a guide for identifying suitable locations for sustainable energy installations. It will lead to a better meteorological mapping and understanding for the United Arab Emirates. To begin with, we first plan to establish a centre, called SOLIS, under which this and subsequent sustainable energy research and development projects can take place. The atlas is selected as the first project, as it is essential to have reliable data on the potential yield of sustainable energy for a region before any other research and development can take place. The proposed project is truly multi-disciplinary, drawing on expertise from diverse disciplines including Information Technology, Geography (GIS and Remote Sensing), Electrical, Mechanical and Environmental Engineering. We will make use of state-of-the-art Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping, novel algorithms developed using Artificial Intelligence techniques [2,3] (including fuzzy logic and neural networks) and intuitive Graphical User Interfaces to provide maximum information to a wide range of potential users. In addition to the promising commercial rewards, we envisage that the SOLIS and its associated projects will have their distinctive contributions to advances in science, education, research, and industry [4]. References: [1] WindAtlas Project, Risoe Laboratory, Technical University of Denmark, www.windatlas.dk [2] Campbell PRJ, “Towards DSS: Intelligent Prediction of Wind Spectra and Mining of Operational Data”, PhD Thesis, Faculty of Engineering, University of Ulster, UK. [3] Campbell PRJ, “A Comparison of Fuzzy Modelling Techniques for Load Forecasting”, accepted to IEEE Fuzzy 2007, London, July 2007. [4] Frost & Sullivan Research, “European Renewable Energy Market — Investment Analysis and Growth Opportunities”, London, April 2006. Short Bio of Presenters: Dr. Piers Campbell is an Assistant Professor at the College of IT, UAE University (UAE). He received his PhD from the University of Ulster (UK) in 2004. His research focuses on Knowledge Discovery, AI and Load Modelling, applied primarily to sustainable energy. Dr. Said Elnaffar is an Assistant Professor at the College of IT, UAE University (UAE). He received his Ph.D. from Queen's University (Canada), 2004. His research focuses on Applied AI, Knowledge Discovery, QoS in Web Services and Grid Computing, Systems Performance.