IN SITU WATER QUALITY DATA ACQUISITION FROM A HELICOPTER 
Dr. Mohammad Id Ozone 
Assistant Professor 
Civil Engineering Department 
College of Engineering 
King Saud University 
Post Box No. 8Q0 
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia 
ABSTRACT 
A Martek Mark II water quality analyser with 150 m long 
sensor cable has been mounted on a PUMA helicopter as a plat 
form to lower the sensors down in the water and measure in 
situ, physico-chemical parameters of water samples from 
different depths in Kuwaiti waters. Data collected have been 
intended to serve as ground truth for correlation of environ 
mental conditions with color and density measurements in a 
scene. Five parameters; namely, temperature, pH, conducti 
vity, dissolved oxygen and the depth of a sample are recorded 
on board the helicopter. 
To examine the merit of plane measurements, seme data have 
been collected using the conventional techniques from a boat. 
These two sets of measurements are compared and evaluated 
as for effectiveness and cost. Plane measurements are found 
accurate and cost effective under Kuwaiti environmental con 
ditions . 
INTRODUCTION 
The earliest endeavour to investigate Kuwaiti Water environ 
ment goes back only to 1968 when Training-Research Vessel 
Umitaka Maru carried out a partial oceanographic survey along 
approximate line shown in Fig. (1); (Katsuzo Kuronuma, 197*0 
It was a collaborative program between TOKYO university of 
Fisheries and Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) 
By that time, the survey was fishery oriented. Thus, although 
the Gulf is highlighted among the most strategic regions in 
the world, it is short of any comprehensive environmental 
studies. However, as oil slicks and industrial pollutants 
became a real threat of marine life in the Gulf, ecological 
research turned out as inevitable tool for survival. In 1975 
KISR, in cooperation with the Institut Français du Petrole 
(IFP), developed a project proposal "Kuwaiti Water Pollution 
Survey" (KWPS) by remote sensing and mathematical modelling. 
The project was an integrated program aiming at the estab 
lishment of a three-dimensional model of Kuwaiti Water qua 
lity and to figure out a feasible procedure for sensing and 
monitoring oil slicks and industrial pollutants. The program 
involved many fields for research, with a good number of 
researchers in Kuwait, France and USA to participate. This 
paper is handling only the experiments and procedures adopted 
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