Contribution of the thermal infrared band of Landsat-7 ETM+ in the detection of seawater pollution along the Lebanese shoreline

The marine environment in Lebanon has been recently affected by land-derived pollution. This problem mostly concerns areas with dense urban activities. While threatening the marine ecosystem, it also affects, as a consequence, the human populations. Along the225 km shoreline, 75 permanent or temporary watercourses discharge polluted and wastewater into the sea, with also numerous sewage outlets and oil spills. These pollution inputs are categorized under four major classes: 1) wastewater inflows