Optical satellite images from ASTER and SPOT have been acquired for mapping and very high-resolution Quickbird satellite imagery for validating the oil exploration and production related infrastructure, e.g. production sites and drilling rigs in the Ghawar region. An example of the used satellite imagery is given in Figure 2. Figure 2: QuickBird satellite image highlighting oilfield infrastructure |
In a first step, oil exploration and production related infrastructure (production sites and drilling rigs) were mapped in almost the complete Ghawar oilfield for the years 2004 and 2007. Some areas were identified showing significant changes in activity between 2004 and 2007. Thus, two of these areas – Shedgum in the North, and Haradh in the South – were chosen as “hot spot areas” for a further, more detailed analysis based on ASTER satellite data. |
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Special emphasis was laid on the validation of the derived point locations. For this purpose the Shedgum area was selected and another reference interpretation was created using 2006 SPOT satellite imagery. The resulting map was then validated using very-high resolution Quickbird imagery. Shedgum The Shedgum hot spot area is situated in the northern part of the main Shedgum oilfield, approximately 40 kilometres northwest of the largest city in the region, Al Hofuf. The settlement closest to the Shedgum area is Al Jadidah, just next to the north eastern border of the main Ghawar oilfield. The delineation of the Shedgum mapping area follows geographic latitude / longitude parameters in the North (25,82°N), East (49,52°E) and South (25,62°N), while the western border follows the coverage of the acquired 2001 Aster satellite image. Thus, the present delineation marks the common coverage area of all time lapse mapping satellite images (2001, 2004, 2006, 2007). In order to validate the quality of the mapping product for 2006 in Shedgum, a very high-resolution panchromatic QuickBird scene (ground resolution 0,7m) for the same year (2006) and area (Shedgum) was ordered and analysed. Haradh The Haradh hot spot area covers the southernmost part of the main Ghawar oilfield, approximately 150 km southwest of the city of Al Hofuf. The delineation of the Haradh mapping area follows geographic latitude / longitude parameters in the North (24,26°N), East (49,22°E) and South (24,02°N), while the western border follows the coverage of the 2004 Aster satellite images. Thus, the present delineation marks the minimum coverage area of all time lapse mapping images (2004 / 2007). |