UTILIZATION OF DRONE TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MEASUREMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS IN KUWAIT OIL FIELDS

Abstract
In the oil and gas sector, drones offer a safe and efficient solution for inspecting and managing critical oil and gas assets, including refineries, storage tanks, offshore platforms and flare stacks. Usage of drones minimizes downtime and eliminates the need for personnel to work in hazardous environments. Drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have rapidly evolved from recreational use to indispensable tools in a multitude of industries, and their impact withinthe environmental scienceshas been transformative. Their ability to efficiently access remote or hazardous locations, coupled with advanced, high resolution sensor technology, provides valuable insights into our planet's health. These technologies are playing an increasingly important role in environment monitoring, providing data and insights that are essential for environmental research, management, and conservation. Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) has utilized drones for several activities within its oil fields.Specifically, KOC recently conducted a drone surveycovering approximately 40 km2of land in North Kuwait & SoutheastKuwait(NK and SEK) oil fields which will inform projects aimed at improving the ecology and environment for human health and other flora and fauna within the State of Kuwait. Within this survey, droneswere used tomap the distribution of the wildlife and the vegetation cover in selected areas proposed for revegetation in NK & SEK fields. This survey was conducted in Quarter four of 2024-2025. Finally, this abstract is predominantly highlight that the base line data collected from the drone surveyprovides data linked to ecological metrics such as vegetation cover, soil surface attributes, and land cover changes. Keywords - Drone, Kuwait oil fields, Survey, Vegetation.