WorldView-3 mapping of Tarmat deposits of the Ras Rakan Island, Northern Coast of Qatar: Environmental perspective

Sankaran Rajendran; Jassim A Al-Khayat; S Veerasingam; Sobhi Nasir; P Vethamony; Fadhil N Sadooni; Hamad Al-Saad Al-Kuwari

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.111988

WorldView-3 mapping of Tarmat deposits of the Ras Rakan Island, Northern Coast of Qatar: Environmental perspective

Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 Feb:163:111988. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.111988. Epub 2021 Jan 15.

Authors

Sankaran Rajendran¹, Jassim A Al-Khayat², S Veerasingam², Sobhi Nasir³, P Vethamony², Fadhil N Sadooni², Hamad Al-Saad Al-Kuwari²

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. Electronic address: srajendran@qu.edu.qa.
² Environmental Science Center, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar.
³ Earth Science Research Center, Sultan Qaboos University, Al-Khod, 123 Muscat, Oman.

PMID: 33461074
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.111988

Abstract

This study characterizes the spectral behavior of tarmats and maps the tarmat deposits found along the coast of Ras Rakan Island off Qatar using WorldView-3 (WV-3) sensor data. The laboratory spectra of tar materials showed diagnostic absorptions features at 0.6 and 1.1 μm in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) and 1.52, 1.73, 2.04, and 2.31 μm in the short wave infrared (SWIR) region. The panchromatic grayscale image and FCC showed the tarmat deposit as a linear warp feature between beach and water. The mapping of deposits using WV-3 data by decorrelation stretch and Linear Spectral Unmixing (LSU) methods discriminated the tarmats from the sandy soil, vegetation and sabkha features in a different tone. The capability of WV-3 sensor and the potential of image processing methods were verified by mapping the tar distribution of the Ras Ushayriq and NE of Al Ruwais.

Keywords: Mapping; Qatar; Ras Rakan Island; Tar deposit; WorldView-3.

MeSH terms

Islands
Models, Theoretical*
Qatar
Soil*
Water

Substances

Soil
Water