Associate Professor in Geosciences, Geospatial, Earth Observation, Remote Sensing and Geomatics Technologies for Marine and Onshore Petroleum and Gas & Mining School of Mining and Geosciences
Nazarbayev University
Starting from 2019, Dr. Emil Bayramov works for the Nazarbayev University, School of Mining and Geosciences, Astana, Kazakhstan on the position of Associate Professor in Geosciences, Geospatial, Earth Observation, Remote Sensing and Geomatics Technologies for Marine and Onshore Petroleum and Gas & Mining Industry.
For 12 years, Dr. Emil Bayramov was the full-time employee of BP Oil and Gas Company of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey Region on the position of Senior Geospatial Information Specialist. In total, Dr. Emil Bayramov holds 25 years of Geospatial and Remote Sensing professional experience.
Dr. Emil Bayramov holds PhD in Natural Sciences (Specialization: Geospatial and Remote Sensing Technologies) from Dresden University of Technology in Germany, MSc in Geographical Information Systems from Lund University in Sweden, second MSc in Geography and BSc in Geography. Dr. Bayramov is the Chartered Geographer (GIS) from the Royal Geographical Society in UK and the Certified Remote Sensing Professional from the Canadian Institute of Geomatics (CIG).
He was also the US Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow and spent one year at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US for the Leadership, Professional and Academic development in Geospatial and Remote Sensing Technologies. He was also the Fulbright Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar in Geospatial and Remote Sensing Technologies at American University Washington DC in the US.
Quantitative assessment of ground deformations for the operational risk assessment of Tengiz project
The present study aimed to compare vertical and horizontal surface displacements derived from the Cosmo-SkyMED, TerraSAR-X, and Sentinel-1 satellite missions in order to detect subsidence induced by extraction and injection in the Tengiz project. Surface displacements were calculated using 2D and 3D decomposition of line-of-sight measurements obtained from the three satellite missions. The vertical displacement velocities derived from both 2D and 3D decomposition showed good agreement in terms of ground motion patterns, with an average regression coefficient of 0.98 across all three satellites.
The maximum average vertical subsidence observed from the three satellite missions was −57 mm per year. It was noted that fifteen wells and three facilities were situated within the subsidence range of −55.6 mm per year to −42 mm per year. The spatial analyses conducted in this study suggest that the subsidence processes occurring in the Tengiz project is influenced not only by extraction and injection activities but also by natural tectonic factors. These factors include the presence of two seismic faults that intersect the oilfield, as well as terrain characteristics that direct water flow toward the identified subsidence hotspot. These elements should be considered as contributing factors to ground deformation.
