ASSESSMENT OF SOME ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS DUE TO THE SMOKE PLUME AS RESULTS OF OIL FIRES DURING 1991 GULF WAR OPERATIONS USING LANDSAT - TM IMAGE: 2- RAS AL KHAFJI OF THE EASTERN PROVINCE OF SAUDI ARABIA AND SOUTH OF KUWAIT

Bagour, M. H.

doi:10.21608/jssae.2006.222452

ASSESSMENT OF SOME ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS DUE TO THE SMOKE PLUME AS RESULTS OF OIL FIRES DURING 1991 GULF WAR OPERATIONS USING LANDSAT - TM IMAGE: 2- RAS AL KHAFJI OF THE EASTERN PROVINCE OF SAUDI ARABIA AND SOUTH OF KUWAIT

Document Type : Original Article

Author

M. H. Bagour

Department of Arld Land Agriculture, King Abdulaziz University. JeddahII Saudi Arabia.

10.21608/jssae.2006.222452

Abstract

The present study aims at assessing the impact of the 1991 Gulf War on the terrestrial environment of Ras AL Khafji in Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and an area south of Kuwait. Landast-TM imageries acquired at three various dates are the main source of information. The most negative changes occurred between the year 1990 and 1992 where, the extensive vegetation noted in the study area in 1990, was almost gone in 1992. These areas of signiﬁcant negative change were affected by the most soot and smoke residual. However, the positive changes were detected in the year 2001 where, the vegetation appeared again in the same locations. The results of the current study indicate that most of the region under investigation was back to the condition of the year 1990.