Red Tide Monitoring in the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman Using MODIS Sensor Data

Satellite imaging sensors are one of the safest, least expensive and easiest ways to monitor marine pollutions. Recently, both Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman are experiencing several types of pollution including oil spills and heavy metal pollutions as well as Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) caused by biological and environmental changes. Their occurrence of the red tide or harmful algal bloom during fall and winter 2008-2009 caused numerous unknown factors in the Strait of Hormuz, Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman which left many destructive effects on fishery, aquaculture, tourism and environmental conditions of the region as some of them have not vanished absolutely yet. This paper deals with the analysis of application of the marine satellite imaging sensors to study and monitor the adverse environmental factors, particularly those associated with algal bloom occurred in 2008-2009. Data obtained by the MODIS sensors have been used to monitor the relevant environmental factors of the red tide. Our results show that the occurred algal bloom was the result of seawater temperature drop, water circulation and the adverse environmental pollutions caused by industrial and urban sewages entering the coastal waters in this region of the Persian Gulf ,This red tide phenomenon was started in the Strait of Hormuz and eventually covered about 140,000 km2 of the Persian Gulf and total area of Strait of Hormuz and it survived for 9 months which is a record amongst the occurred algal blooms across the world.