The University of Tabriz is acquiring new equipment to be able to use satellite images to monitor the progress of the embattled Lake Urmia’s restoration efforts. “Once the sanctions are lifted, we will be able to access satellites for scientific purposes; as such, we’re in the process of acquiring everything we need to be able to receive and analyze images from the AVHRR satellite,” Mohammad Reza Pourmohammadi, president of the university, was quoted as saying by IRNA. Accessing the satellite’s data will help researchers monitor atmospheric and climatic changes around the lake, including the state of the lake’s water level, surrounding vegetation and humidity. The satellite provides 30-minute updates. Accessing the satellite can provide a major boost to efforts to revive Lake Urmia, which due to a variety of factors contains only 5% of the amount of water it held 20 years ago. The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is a radiation-detection imager operated by the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
