TITLE:
Sand Dune Characteristics and Migration in the South of the Jal Al-Liyah Area, Kuwait
AUTHORS:
Ebrahim Mohammed, Adeeba Al-Hurban
KEYWORDS:
Sand Dunes, Jal Al-Liyah, Morphology, Mineralogy, Migration, Remote Sensing
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Geographic Information System,
Vol.17 No.4,
August
22,
2025
ABSTRACT: Kuwait’s desert area is considered among the arid-hyper arid desert areas in the Arabian Peninsula. The prevailing wind direction in Kuwait is the northeastern, locally known as “Al-Shamal”, which is mainly responsible for erosional and depositional activities, yielding the creation of sand dunes in the northwest and west parts of Kuwait. The aim of this study is to observe and monitor the main characteristic features of sand dunes, such as morphology, migration, and mineralogy, located in the southern part of the Jal Al-Liyah area by using a remote sensing approach during the period from 1993 to 2023. Two methods were used to study the migration rate and the change in shape and size, and four methods were used to study the mineralogy of the dunes (QCC Map, NDSDI index Map, ASTER Map, and Fe3+-based map). The results showed a dramatic change in shape, size, and number of the dunes in the area, with a migration rate of 4 m/yr to 60 m/yr. Moreover, the results showed that the sand dunes are basically composed of quartz and carbonate in different percentages within the study area.