May 21, 2003 — In 1991 and 1992, NOAA was actively involved in response to the environmental impacts of the Gulf War. NOAA also provided assistance to the coalitions’ current efforts in Iraq and may also assist further in some reconstruction efforts. During the 1991 Gulf War, the NOAA Hazardous Materials Response Division supported efforts to track and control the massive oils spills caused by the Iraqi regime.

After the war, NOAA’s Arabian Gulf Program Office (within the Office of the Chief Scientist) assisted with environmental assessment, monitoring, prediction and reconstruction efforts associated with oil impacts and burning oil fields in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf region. For example, NOAA participated in the interagency coordination for response and assessment of smoke plumes from the oil fires; rebuilt the capacities of the Kuwait Meteorological Service and the Kuwait Environmental Protection Department; and the planning, coordination and implementation of the MT. MITCHELL expedition to assess the impacts of the oil spill in the Arabian Gulf. Although the 2003 Gulf war did not result in oil spills or widespread oil fires, it has its own set of unique environmental impacts and issues. Fortunately, NOAA has a broad range of capabilities which can help address these post-war impacts, including those related to marshland restoration, fisheries and water quality.

NOAA Participation in the 1991 Gulf War
The destruction of more than 740 Kuwaiti oil wells and the release of six to eight million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf (from both tankers and offshore facilities in Kuwait) resulted in catastrophic environmental damage in the Gulf region by January of 1991. Growing international environmental concerns soon facilitated the largest integrated international and multi-agency reconstruction effort undertaken to date in this region. NOAA participated in this effort by investigating the oceanic and atmospheric impact of the war on this region from NOAA resources stationed at sea, on land, from NOAA satellites and the Space Shuttle.

Emergency Response Actions
Between January and March 1991, the NOAA Hazardous Materials Response Division led NOAA efforts (in collaboration with other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard) to respond to massive oil spills and oil fires in the region. NOAA scientists deployed with allied forces in the region, with support from other NOAA Ocean Service, National Weather Service, National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service, and Air Resources Laboratory scientists in the United States, conducted six principle activities:

• Surveying oil spill sources and areas of shoreline impacts;
• Forecasting oil spill movement;
• Forecasting weather in support of trajectory analysis and response activities;
• Analyzing satellite and other remotely sensed data;
• Compiling shoreline sensitivity and resources at risk data; and
• Evaluating risks posed by oil fires in Kuwait.
  
• Coastal Oil Spill Response and Restoration Efforts: The NOAA HAZMAT team support to allied operations during the Gulf War focused on the intentional oil spills discharged into the Gulf. Specifically NOAA (in collaboration with other agencies, including the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Coast Guard) surveyed oil spill locations, evaluated oil properties and weather patterns and forecasted oil movement. The NOAA Weather Service coordinated the meteorological input for this effort. These analyses focused on the oil spill threats from Allied forces in the area, shorelines of Kuwait and other environments in the region, including critical water desalinization plants on the Saudi Arabian coast. NOAA HAZMAT assistance was provided via a command post at USCG Headquarters in Washington, D.C., with support from HAZMAT Headquarters in Seattle, Wash., as well as by NOAA technical specialists in the Gulf region. This information proved critical to coordinating response efforts during the conflict, as well as identifying where injury assessment work was needed.

Deployment of Air Monitoring and Meteorological Networks
NOAA staff from ARL, National Centers for Environmental Prediction and the NWS provided a range of expertise and services during the first Gulf War. Some of the specific work included assessments of the exposure of ecosystems and people to oil smoke and the potential exposure of troops to nerve gas following destruction of Iraqi munitions immediately after the 1991 Gulf War. This work relied in part on the meteorological data derived from an air monitoring network NOAA deployed in Kuwait’s oil fields to assist in these efforts.

• Smoke Plume Model Simulations of the 1991 Kuwait Oil Fires: During a nine-month period following the 1991 Gulf War, ARL organized and deployed a plume forecasting response team, which used a modified version of NOAA’s Hysplit3 model to compute potential exposures to smoke and combustion products from the Kuwaiti oil fires. This information was necessary to support health assessments by the U.S. Army staff from Aberdeen Proving Grounds. ARL models helped to predict the dispersion of oil fire smoke and determine what response actions should be. Results indicated that model calculations of SO₂ (and carbon soot) were in good agreement with several intense aircraft measurement campaigns and as long-term ground-based measurements. The highest normalized concentrations were always located near the coast between Kuwait and Qatar, with peak values moving farther west and inland with each season — from over the Gulf in the spring to the west over the Saudi Peninsula by autumn (due to the development of the Shamal winds and subsequently fewer disturbances passing through the region). If the measured levels of SO₂ can be considered a reasonable surrogate for general "air pollution" due to the fires, then background air concentration levels several hundred kilometers downwind only increased by perhaps 50 percent due to the fires. Later, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts model reanalysis fields (one degree horizontal resolution, 31 vertical hybrid levels) were obtained in support of the Army project to improve ARL model accuracy for the Kuwait oil fires. These results showed a significant improvement over using the NOAA-MRF archive fields in capturing the transport of contaminants. Using this data, the resulting plume was transported more easterly along the Arabian Gulf coast and agreed more qualitatively with the oil fire plume transport — as seen in the NOAA satellite images. Once this was done, Hysplit4 was ready to be configured for the March 1991 Khamisiyah, Iraq release of chemical agents.
  
• Preliminary Khamisiyah Detonation Study: The destruction of a storage depot containing rockets with nerve gas warheads at Khamisiyah, Iraq, on March 13, 1991, potentially exposed large numbers of U.S. troops to low concentrations of hazardous gases. At present, there have been no reports that confirm that nerve gases were actually released nor have there been any reports of health problems that are known to follow such exposure. However, ARL is working with several other agencies to help generate confidence in these model predictions (Hysplit4) - favored by the U.S. DOD for application in this situation.

NOAA satellite images helped to monitor environmental threats from space
The fires and smoke, along with larger oil slicks, that occurred during and after the 1991 Gulf War were monitored by NOAA Satellites and Information using its Polar Orbiting Operational Environmental Satellites. Specifically, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer onboard NOAA 10, 11, and 12 provided measurements of visible albedo and infrared radiance in the Arabian Gulf region. These data were used to locate oil well fires and monitor the movement of the 1991 Gulf oil spill. The remote sensing images were also used to plan clean-up operations, model oil spill trajectories and for coastal environmental assessments. This NOAA-10 AVHRR image shows hot spots (red) and smoke (black) from oil wells burning in Kuwait on Feb. 23, 1991.

Staff Support, American Embassy Kuwait
NOAA provided ongoing staff support to the American Embassy in Kuwait, in the form of two principal staff, the science advisor (April to October 1991) and a regional liaison (August to June 1992). Additional staff were detailed to the region during the MT. MITCHELL expedition. The NOAA representatives prepared briefings and cables addressing air pollution levels associated with oil well fires, as well as local contributions from power production, transportation and dust levels. Other duties included field briefings for congressional and VIP visits, as well as interactions with U.S. citizens working in Kuwait. The staff support within the embassy was critical to the success of NOAA’s abilities to coordinate and implement activities within the region.

• MT. MITCHELL Oceanographic Expedition in the Arabian Gulf: Between February and June 1992, the NOAA Ship MT. MITCHELL conducted a 100-day multi-disciplinary oceanographic research investigation in the Gulf, involving more than 140 marine scientists from 15 nations. The expedition was sponsored by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Regional Organizations for the Protection of the Marine Environment, United Nations Environmental Programme, NOAA, and the Marine Spill Response Corporation, and focused on the fate and effects of the 1991 Gulf war oil spills on the marine environment. The expedition was extremely unusual given the limited time in which it was conceived, planned, implemented and completed. The expedition was pulled together in about three months time — with a NOAA vessel being refitted for the mission; more than 140 scientists identified; research plans agreed to; country clearances obtained and food, dockage and fuel resources made available in the region. The expedition surveyed the Gulf waters of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Islamic Republic of Iran. This was the first U.S. government vessel to have authorization to be in Iranian waters and the first time Iranian citizens (Naval attaches and scientists) were on a U.S. government vessel since the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis. Work included research on sea grass, coral reefs, fisheries, sediment transport and physical oceanography. The expedition was organized around six sequential “legs,” each with a major scientific focus and a port call scheduled to allow for staging of equipment, exchange of scientific personnel, diplomatic and educational functions and other activities required to prepare the ship for the next set of projects:
  
  • Legs I, III, and VI centered on physical oceanography and provided information needed to accurately model future oil spills in the Arabian Gulf.
  • Leg II was the longest of the legs, focusing on a multi-disciplinary investigation of the biological, chemical and physical impacts from the oil spill along the most heavily affected shoreline — Ras al Tanaqib to Ras Abu Ali, Saudi Arabia.
  • Legs IV and V were designed to investigate the effects of oil on commercial fisheries resources and the supporting ecosystem, and on the coral reefs of the region. NOAA Fisheries Northwest Fisheries Science Center conducted critical fish/shellfish oil contamination assessments. Scientists set up a laboratory on board the vessel to do real-time, high quality analyses of biological samples to assess exposure to oil.
  • Leg VII was added to gather additional physical and biological oceanographic information about the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman, and to train Omani students from Sultan Qaboos University.

The mission was a great success — measured not only by the wealth of scientific data collected, but also in the strides made in local, regional and international environmental awareness and political cooperation in the Gulf. One year after the mission, all of the participants gathered in Kuwait to present the initial research findings from the expedition.

NOAA worked collaboratively with a number of other government agencies on these projects and many NOAA staff received medals for their efforts.

NOAA’s Participation in the 2003 Gulf War and Reconstruction Efforts
NOAA is currently working with the U.S. Defense Department’s Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance and the with Department of State’s Task Force on Environmental Security to prepare for the post-war reconstruction in Iraq (i.e., environmental issues — including science, technology and health issues that arise in the post-conflict period), should such work become necessary. Note that many of NOAA’s capabilities will not necessarily be called upon in this instance given extant circumstances. Furthermore, NOAA’s readiness to engage and/or participation in these significant undertakings is dependant on the availability of funding.

Current Involvement: NOAA has already contributed to the U.S. efforts in Iraq. NOAA’s polar-orbiting satellites have already been called into service to support ongoing disaster monitoring and forecasting activities in Iraq, including pinpointing of “hot spots” identified as burning oil facilities, as well as dust and sand storms. Operational Significant Event Imagery program analysts in the Satellite Services Division review all available Polar and Geostationary satellite imagery, including AVHRR, Meteosat, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery for features of interest, including hot spots, smoke plumes, sand storms and contrails. Imagery containing features of interest is posted to the OSEI Web site and is forwarded to NESDIS management for evaluation. This NOAA-16 AVHRR image taken April 2, 2003, shows smoke blowing south from burning oil wells in Southeastern Iraq. Airplane contrails are also visible in Western Iraq. Likewise, NOAA HAZMAT personnel were stationed in Bahrain and at the Naval Oceanographic office in Mississippi assisting the U.S. Navy in the development of oil spill response strategies by providing operational spill trajectory support and training in preparation of another catastrophic release.

NOAA Response Capabilities
NOAA has the ability to provide a range of Response Capabilities, although it is not expected that much additional work will occur in this area:

• NOAA has the capability to engage in oil spill response, clean-up and recovery activities, both inland waterways and in coastal areas.
• NOAA can provide airborne chemical detection support and the ability to identify circulation patterns and micro-physical features associated with chemical, nuclear and particulate dispersion and deposition.
• NOAA operates a fleet of ships and aircraft that can be called upon for port and harbor security support, including, locating underwater objects, boarding and inspections and search and rescue.
• NOAA uniformed service can provide liaison to support DOD, embassies and other federal agencies. Current law provides a mechanism for transfer of NOAA Corps officers, ships and aircraft to the U.S. DOD in times of national emergency.
• NOAA is the source of space weather forecasting, which helps minimize adverse effects on these communications systems, as well as GPS systems utilized by people, aircraft and smart weapons.
• NOAA can provide optimized versions of its Numerical Weather Prediction models for use in Arabian Gulf Region.
• NOAA can conduct real-time, high quality analyses to assess fish and shellfish exposure to oil.

NOAA’s Expertise could also be used for Recovery and Restoration Efforts:

• NOAA has the expertise to assist in rebuilding and strengthening the hydrometeorological infrastructure, including forecast and early warning systems and disaster preparedness and response. This could include data collection platforms and telecommunications systems, forecast systems for floods, droughts, and the management of dams/reservoirs and other water resource management associated with river and coastal systems, including tide gages.
• NOAA is also capable of assisting in the reconstruction of positioning infrastructure, such as geodesy and reference stations related to navigation and transportation, including engineering, public works, roads and bridges.
• NOAA could also reinstall and upgrade the Baghdad receiving station for NOAA’s polar-orbiting satellite, if it was destroyed.
• NOAA can apply its expertise in restoration planning, technology and implementation to serious ecological challenges, including ecological risk assessment of contamination in key areas, recommending appropriate remedial actions and providing training and capacity building.
• NOAA has retrospective data sets used for engineering studies for buildings airfields and road construction and it is possible that — in conjunction with NASA for example — other data could be acquired to develop a robust remote sensing capability in the country and regionally.
• On the ground, NOAA can develop plans and implement projects to restore habitats degraded by contamination, physical alternation and/or hydrologic disturbance.
• NOAA can provide restoration outreach, training and technical guidance, conduct restoration technology testing and research, and create models and conduct surveys useful for restoration planning and implementation.

The most likely areas of expertise that NOAA may be asked to provide would involve, wetland/marshland injury assessment and restoration, an assessment of the fisheries, and both coastal and inland water quality. Other areas may become apparent as the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance continues its work.

Relevant Web Sites
NOAA SATELLITES CAPTURE BURNING OIL FIELDS IN IRAQ

NOAA SATELLITE CAPTURES HOT SPOTS IN BAGHDAD

NOAA SATELLITE SHOWS MASSIVE DUST STORM IN IRAQ MOVING SOUTHWARD

ARL’s Emergency Preparedness Activities

Model Simulations of the 1991 Kuwait Oil Fires

Preliminary Khamisiyah Detonation Study

NOAA Hazardous Materials Response Division

NOAA’s OIL SPILL RESPONSE AND RESTORATION EFFORTS

NOAA Ocean Service

NOAA National Weather Service

NOAA National Environmental Satellite Data and Information Service

NOAA Air Resources Laboratory

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Prediction

NOAA Polar Orbiting Satellites

NOAA Geostationary Satellites

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer

DUST STORMS, SAND STORMS AND RELATED NOAA ACTIVITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST

NOAA’s CLIMATE SUMMARIES FOR THE MIDDLE EAST AND IRAQ

NOAA Operational Significant Event Imagery

NOAA Satellite Services Division

Satellite Images of Iraq

NOAA Space Weather Site

NOAA Flood Web page

NOAA Drought Web page

NOAA Charting and Navigation

NOAA Fisheries

NOAA Northwest Fisheries Science Center

Media Contact:
Greg Hernandez, NOAA, (202) 482-3091