Remote sensing of marine oil spills and its applications

Abstract

Remote sensing is an effective tool to monitor oil spills. The theory of oil spill remote sensing is based on the differences between oil slick and other environmental objects. For optical sensor, the ability of different bands to find oil film at sea is different. Oil spill object could be intensified by composing appropriate bands. In addition, image enhancements could also strengthen oil spill features. For SAR, image characteristics of oil spill are crucial to oil detection. Applications show that sensors loaded on satellite can find oil slick at sea. Optical sensor and SAR have their own advantages, and play different roles in oil spill remote sensing. It is necessary to integrate them to establish an all-weather, omnidirectional 3-D monitoring network for monitoring oil spills and illicit vessel discharges.