Characterization and discrimination of evolving mineral and plant oil slicks based on L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR)

Cathleen E. Jones; Martine M. Espeseth; Benjamin Holt; Camilla Brekke; Stine Skrunes

doi:10.1117/12.2241266

18 October 2016 Characterization and discrimination of evolving mineral and plant oil slicks based on L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR)

Cathleen E. Jones, Martine M. Espeseth, Benjamin Holt, Camilla Brekke, Stine Skrunes

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 10003, SAR Image Analysis, Modeling, and Techniques XVI; 100030K (2016) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2241266
Event: SPIE Remote Sensing, 2016, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

Evolution of the damping ratio for Bragg wavenumbers in the range 32-43 rad/m is evaluated for oil slicks of different composition released in the open ocean and allowed to develop naturally. The study uses quad-polarimetric L-band airborne synthetic aperture radar data acquired over three mineral oil emulsion releases of different, known oil-to-water ratio, and a near-coincident release of 2-ethylhexyl oleate that served as a biogenic look-alike. The experiment occurred during the 2015 Norwegian oil-on-water exercise in the North Sea during a period of relatively high winds (~12 m/s). NASA’s Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) was used to repeatedly image the slicks over a period of eight hours, capturing the slicks’ early development and providing a time series from which to track the evolution of the slicks’ size, position, and radiometric characteristics. Particular emphasis is given in this analysis to identification of zones of higher damping ratio within the slicks (zoning) as potential indicators of thicker oil, and to comparison of the evolution of emulsion and plant oil damping ratios. It was found that all mineral oil slicks initially exhibited zoning apparent in VV, HH, and HV intensities, and that the areas of higher damping ratio persisted the longest for the highest oil content emulsion (80% oil by volume). In contrast, zoning was not unambiguously evident for plant oil at any time from 44 minutes to 8.5 hours after release.

Citation Download Citation

Cathleen E. Jones, Martine M. Espeseth, Benjamin Holt, Camilla Brekke, and Stine Skrunes "Characterization and discrimination of evolving mineral and plant oil slicks based on L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR)", Proc. SPIE 10003, SAR Image Analysis, Modeling, and Techniques XVI, 100030K (18 October 2016); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2241266

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