Oil Spill Detection Using Satellite Imagery

Abstract

<span>Since oil exploration began, oil spills have become a serious problem. When drilling for oil, there is always a risk of an oil spill. With the new development of technology over the years, oil spill detection has become much easier making the clean-up of a spill to happen much faster reducing the risk of a large spread. In this study, remote sensing techniques were used to detect the Deep-water Horizon oil spill through a change detection method. The change detection method allows the viewer to determine the difference of an area before and after an oil spill as well as detect the irregular difference on a surface. To confirm the effectiveness of change detection method, two approaches were used each showing the differences in the images before and after the spill allowing the size and shape to be identified. The swipe tool in the ArcGIS software was used to visually show the changes. The difference tool was also used to both visually and statistically to investigate the difference before and after the Deep-water Horizon oil spill event.</span>