After decades of development, laser ablation has become an important technique for a large number of applications such as thin film deposition, nanoparticle synthesis, micromachining, chemical analysis, etc. Experimental and theoretical studies have been conducted to understand the physical mechanisms of the laser ablation processes and their dependence on the laser wavelength, pulse duration, ambient gas and target material. The present work describes and investigates the relative importance of the physical mechanisms influencing the characteristics of aluminum laser-induced plasmas. The general scope of this research encompasses a thorough study of the interplay between the plasma plume dynamics and the ambient gas in which they expand. This is achieved by imaging and analyzing the temporal and spatial evolution the plume in terms of spectral intensity, electron density and excitation temperature within various environments; extending from vacuum to atmospheric pressure (760 Torr), in an inert gas like argon and heluim, as well as in a chemically active gas like nitrogen.