IMPACT OF KUWAITS OIL-FIRE SMOKE CLOUD ON THE SKY OF BAHRAIN

The effects of the Kuwaiti oil well fires of 1991 on the atmospheric parameters of Bahrain (approximately 600 km southeast of Kuwait) were observed. Solar radiation, optical thickness, ultraviolet radiation, horizontal visibility, temperature, and solar spectral distribution were measured for 1991 and compared to the long-term values of 1985-1990. The relative monthly solar radiation in Bahrain was reduced by 8% (February) when 50 oil wells were burning and reduced further to 20% when 470 oil wells were on fire (April-July). In November 1991, when there were 12 oil wells burning, the recorded solar radiation became nearly equal to the long-term average. The monthly average daily optical thickness, tau, for the direct or beam solar radiation was calculated. The values of tau were found to be larger in 1991 than the average for the years 1985-1990 by nearly 58% during June and returned to normal in October (after nearly all the oil well fires were extinguished). The clear and smoked sky solar spectra distribution were detected before and during the burning of the Kuwait oil wells. Large absorption of the solar radiation was noticed on the 2nd and 3rd of March, 1991. The daily average infrared radiation during 1990 was found to be 6700.4 Whm-2 and shifted to 9182.1 Whm-2 in 1991. Comparison was also made between 1990 and 1991 data of the global solar radiation and the temperature. The effect of the burning oil wells in Kuwait on the horizontal visibility in Bahrain have also been studied. The changes in the above parameters were mainly attributed to the plumes driven by the wind from the burning oil wells to the Island of Bahrain.