Determination of Sentinel-2 spectral reflectance to detect oil spill on the sea surface

Abstract

Oil spill is one of the most common marine environmental problems. Oil spills can be caused by leakage at oil refineries at sea or disposal of vessel waste. This event has an impact on various sectors, such as fisheries, tourism, and marine ecosystems. This study aims to determine the spectral reflectance of Sentinel-2 response to detecting oil spill on the sea. Oil identification in the sea can be made visually by looking at colored patterns at sea level. Sentinel-2 image reflectance was obtained by processing the image using the Google Earth Engine platform. The results were clipped according to the area of ​​interest and divided to get a value between 0 and 1. Bands combination is possible to identify the oil spill visually. The silvery pattern saw in the red-green-blue combination, but it is arduous to estimate its distribution because of the silvery pattern seen for thick oil. The combination of SWIR-NIR-red bands proved effective in showing the distribution of oil with a deep black pattern. Spectral measurements in the field were undertaken by taking samples in the areas of oil spills and clean water bodies. The oil layer had a lower reflectance than the clean water body. The blue band gave a high response, but the red band gave less response. In the NIR and SWIR bands, the reflectance of oil was lower than the water body. In conclusion, the SWIR - NIR - RED band combination is better used to determine oil spills due to it shows the characteristics of oil generally, either thin or thick oil.