Prince Sultan Research Center for Environment, Water and Desert


The Prince Sultan Institute for Environmental, Water and Desert Research is a Saudi Institute was established in 1986 under the name "Center for Desert Studies". It is as an independently administered research organization directly linked to the rector's office of King Saud University. The Center's purpose is to design and conduct scientific research which is related to desert development and to combating desertification in the Arabian Peninsula.
The Center is active in the environmental application of remote sensing technologies and maintains its own Remote Sensing Unit equipped with GIS and advanced programs for satellite image processing. In 2007, the Center published the Space Image Atlas of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which it produced in partnership with the Space Research Institute of King Abdulaziz City for Science & Technology and Geospace Austria.
The Center is a primary sponsor of the International Conference on Water Resources and Arid Environments which has been held bi-annually in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia since 2004.
The Center also serves as headquarters for the General Secretariat of the Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz International Prize for Water.

Fields of Research Interest

Within the context of the arid environments of the Arabian peninsula, the Center is interested in pursuing research in the following areas: