Modeling and Monitoring of Air Quality in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Capitals Using Satellite Technology and GIS Based analysis.

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Lecturer, Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Beni Suef University

2 Lecturer of physical geography and geographic information systems, Department of Geography, Faculty of Arts, Beni Suef University

Abstract

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are one of the most active economic regions in the world. They prominence surge in economy in the recent period that has had an impact on air quality like major cities and capitals. The population of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries is about 59.7 million, of whom about 29.0 million are citizens and 30.7 million are foreigners. Oil extraction is one of the most important economic pillars of this region, along with other economic booms in the fields of agriculture, tourism and industry. the current study seeks to model, monitor and observe air quality in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Capitals based on Landsat-8 OLI and TIRS images, and GIS techniques. Major land covers were mapped from Landsat-8 images. Air quality map and AOT (Aerosol Optical Thickness) were derived by calculating aerosol path radiance based on exoatmospheric solar constant and atmospheric transmittance. Relying on satellite observations of atmospheric gases from Landsat-8 OLI, results indicate significant changes in the levels of atmospheric pollutants. The study showed that concentrations of PM10 are high in Abu Dhabi and Doha, as the value of the air quality index increased to 100. The value of the air quality index ranged between 96 in Muscat city as the lowest value and 162 in Abu Dhabi City as the highest value, while this value reached about (123-132-130-154) in Riyadh, Kuwait, Manama and Doha respectively.

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