Oil spill detection in the Norwegian sea using spaceborne SAR imagery

摘要

The paper presents the results of the oil spill observations using the Almaz-1 and ERS-1 SAR collected in the Norwegian Sea during the DOSE-91 experiment. Three artificial slicks were released from vessel on August 1991 and data on sea and weather conditions near the test area were collected. The test area was imaged by the Almaz-1 SAR. The analysis of the SAR images has allowed to detect the effect of an intensification of short waves both in area of slick and at the windward edge of oil spill that expressed in magnification of SAR image brightness. Increase of relative backscatter power was up to 2.0 dB. It is concluded that Almaz-1 was a valuable tool for oil spill detection and localization but the detectability essentially depended on wind speed, sea state and age of spills.