Combining ocean numerical model and SAR imagery to investigate the occurrence of oil pollution, a case study for the Java Sea

Abstract

IndoNACE is an abbreviation of Indonesian Seas Numerical Assessment of the Coastal Environment, a pilot study between Indonesia and Germany that combining analysis of oil spills from SAR images and numerical tracer studies from 3-D numerical model. Aim of this study is to understand the observed seasonal variations in marine oil pollution. Within this study, a visual inspection of all available SAR images is performed in order to generate maps of oil pollution occurrence in the Java Sea. Afterward, a set of numerical models is applied to trace back the origin of oil pollution. Our results showed that by analysing 706 ENVISAT ASAR images, the highest number of oil spills occurrence in the Java Sea was found during the transition monsoons, i.e. March to May and September to November. Assuming Marine Protected Area (MPA) of Seribu Islands as the end position of oil trajectory, we found that the origins of oil pollutions in that area were mostly from north and east.