Real-time pollution tracking to help clear the air in Abu Dhabi

• Device to capture air quality data
• ‘Digital twin’ will simulate scenarios
• Gulf air exceeds WHO limits

Abu Dhabi has invited companies to bid for a contract to develop a “digital twin” focused on real-time monitoring of air quality in a desert region that is among the dustiest in the world.

A digital twin is a virtual representation of an object or system designed to accurately reflect a physical object, in this case to enable the authorities to simulate environmental scenarios and make data-driven decisions. 

The Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) is seeking proposals for the first phase of a multi-year effort to build a virtual model of the emirate’s environment, beginning with pollution data.

According to the EAD tender documents, the proposed system will collect and analyse real-time input from air quality sensors to track harmful pollutants, including dust particles small enough to enter the lungs and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxides. There were no financial details.

From Morocco across the Sahara desert and the Arabian Peninsula to India, dust mass in the air is among the highest in the world.

In addition, the UAE is in the world’s largest oil producing region where burning off gas as a by-product of oil production is common.

Satellite data analysed by the BBC in 2023 showed that oil fields in the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq and Iran, which supply around 15 percent of world demand, were releasing or partially burning 36.6 billion cubic metres of gas into the atmosphere. 

The research revealed that the pollutants produced by the flaring, which included nitrogen dioxide and ozone from Iraq and Iran, carried hundreds of miles across the Gulf and exceeded World Health Organisation limits in many cases.

• Saudi Arabia to invest $10m in sandstorm warning system
• UAE companies have mixed success in cutting emissions
• Middle East air pollution among worst in the world

Abu Dhabi aims to use the digital twin platform to support public health planning and environmental policy as part of its Environmental Vision 2030 strategy.

The first phase, set to run for 12 months, will involve designing the digital infrastructure and deploying Internet of Things (IoT) devices to capture live air quality data. 

The system will also support the development of predictive models to forecast risks such as industrial emissions and storm-driven pollution events.

The project comes as the region grapples with a wave of dust storms typical of this time of year. 

Orange dust alerts were issued this week across the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with the UAE’s National Centre of Meteorology warning of reduced visibility and falling temperatures. 

Dust storms in Iraq have left 1,800 people with breathing problems, the BBC reported.

Future phases of the digital twin platform will expand to cover water, biodiversity, and other environmental areas, according to the EAD.