Observations of the oil-polluted soil of Absheron Peninsula using Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel 2A imagery

Abstract

The Absheron Peninsula is the biggest urbanized area in Azerbaijan. Along with the growth of the massive oil production, the role of the Peninsula has increased and big ecological problems have arisen. In this research, the investigation of the possibility of detecting hydrocarbons in sandy soil through Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel 2 A satellite and drone images and chemical analysis was conducted. The main study was based on the satellite imagery of Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel 2A, employing NDVI calculations and analyses. In order to calculate NDVI, ESRI ArcGIS 10.3 software has been used. The multispectral images with 30m spatial resolution of Landsat 8 and 10 m resolution multispectral images of Sentinel 2 were used. Additionally, drone observations lead to obtaining high-resolution data about soil pollution in the study area. Also, field samples were taken to the laboratory and necessary chemical analysis was performed for validation purposes. This study showed that multispectral remote sensing can be used to detect hydrocarbons in the soil in oil production areas. Hydrocarbon-bearing substances’ absorption into the soil results in a low value of NDVI in the study area. The observations in the winter and summer seasons show that the seasonal changes in weather conditions affect both the amount of oil contamination in the soil and the detection process of soil pollution by oil using remote sensing.