The Impact of Building a Causeway between the Al-Doha and Shuwaikh Areas in Kuwait Bay on Water Quality Using Remote Sensing and GIS

Since seawater is the main source of water in Kuwait, water quality must be monitored and observed continuously. Remote sensing is considered to be a very practical method for conducting such a study, especially in prohibited and non-accessible areas. The Al-Hishan area is a small bay located between Al-Doha and Shuwaikh in Kuwait Bay. Although it is a coastal area, many industrial activities have been constructed. Also, the construction of the Jaber Al-Ahmad Causeway has increased the accumulation of sediments and biomaterials in this area. Data were taken from 2013 until 2023 using Landsat imagery, which have been corrected and analyzed using the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform with multiple indices such as “Total Suspended Solids (TSS), Turbidity, Secchi Disk Depth (SDD), Water Surface Temperature (WST), Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM), and Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI)” to compare the changes in water quality in this area before, during, and after the construction of the Jaber Al-Ahmad Causeway. The results detected some changes in water quality in many factors, such as temperature and chlorophyll. Observing and monitoring water quality is very important and necessary, especially in countries with limited sources of water. The new techniques in remote sensing and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have proved to be a very practical way to conduct such a study with high accuracy.