Using satellite data to monitor the 1991 Kuwait oil fires

Abstract EN

The Kuwait oil fires, considered one of the world’s greatest environmental disasters, were created during the 1991 Gulf War.

The thermal infrared bands for digitally processed Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer on board National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration polar orbiting satellites and Landsat Thematic Mapper image data were successfully used to detect and monitor the temporal and spatial changes associated with the Kuwait oil fires and associated smoke plumes.

The oil fires were first detected on satellite imagery on January 24 and they peaked in the last week of February, 1991, which coincided with the Allied Forces ground offensive attack to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi Army.

The satellite images in conjunction with field data were used to identify fires that were hottest and associated with high pressure zones and wells that were forming pools of oil.