Utilization of satellite SAR imagery for mapping sand dunes in Kuwait

The effectiveness of Radarsat standard beam mode images with various incidence angles and illumination directions were investigated for their usefulness in mapping sand dunes in the Al-Huwaimiliyah mobile sand zone in NW Kuwait. The highly directional sand dunes behaved as quasi-reflectors and were observed only in the low incidence Radarsat S1 image (incidence angle 20-27.4/spl deg/). With increasing incidence angle in the Radarsat S4 (incidence angle 33.6-39.6/spl deg/) and S7 (incidence angle 44.9-49.4/spl deg/) beam modes images, the dune were not mapped at all. The dunes were also observed in the ascending mode with the Radarsat S4 image when the angle between the perpendicular to the dune trend and the radar illumination direction was 54/spl deg/. Multitemporal ERS-1/2 coherence imagery was used to map mobile sand dunes and relatively stable areas. For the Al-Huwaimiliyah sand dunes, Radarsat's low incidence angle and ascending modes images were found to be the most suitable for studying the sand dunes.