Remote sensing of oil slicks

Abstract

Airborne remote sensing is very useful for oil-spill monitoring ans surveillance. It ranks very high among available methods due to its capability of large area coverage with good resolution and speed for detection of oil slicks. It overcomes the drawback of expensive conventional surveying methods. An airborne remote sensing system used for monitoring and surveillance of oil comprises different sensors such as side-looking airborne radar, synthetic aperture radar, infrared/ultraviolet line scanner, passive microwave radiometer, laser beam fluorosensor and laser-illuminated active gated television. These sensors provide more objective information for detection, quantification and classification of oil as well as identification of a polluting vessel. A brief discussion and working principle of these sensors are presented and their capabilities discussed.