MONITORING THE PERSIAN-GULF-WAR WITH NOAA AVHRR DATA

Near to the time of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and continuing past the withdrawal of its forces, the northern Persian Gulf area was monitored continuously using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHR R) onboard the NOAA polar orbiting satellites. The AVHRR was shown to be effective for monitoring fires, oil slicks, airplane contrails, and outbreaks of wind-blown dust, during the course of the war. With thei r frequent multispectral coverage, the NOAA series satellites can be a valuable strategic tool during war, and may be used to evaluate resul ting environmental conditions.