Abstract
Abstract. This paper provides an overview of oil spill scenarios and the remote sensing methods used for detection and mapping the spills. It also discusses the different kinds of thermal sensors used in oil spills detection. As UAS is becoming an important player in the oil and gas industry for the low operating costs involved, this research involved working with a cheap thermal airborne sensor mounted on DJI Phantom 4 system. Data were collected in two scenarios, first scenario is collecting data in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula at a petroleum company location and the second scenario was an indoor experiment simulating an offshore spill. The aim of this research is to inspect the capability of Lepton LWIR inexpensive sensor to detect the areas contaminated with oil. Data processing to create classification maps involved using ArcGIS 10.5.1, ERDAS Imagine 2015 and ENVI 5.3. Depending accuracy assessment (confusion matrices) for the classified images and comparing classified images with ground truth, results shows the Lepton thermal sensor worked well in differentiating oil from water and was not a good option when there are many objects in the area of interest. Future research recommendations and conclusions are presented.
Highlights
Oil spills are a major factor that affects the environment in the first place as well as its contribution to huge economic losses especially for countries who are completely depending on oil products as one of their main resources because a major oil spill could be a major loss and a big hit to the economy
This paper provides an overview of oil spill scenarios and the remote sensing methods used for detection and mapping the spills
As Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) is becoming an important player in the oil and gas industry for the low operating costs involved, this research involved working with a cheap thermal airborne sensor mounted on DJI Phantom 4 system
Summary
Oil spills are a major factor that affects the environment in the first place as well as its contribution to huge economic losses especially for countries who are completely depending on oil products as one of their main resources because a major oil spill could be a major loss and a big hit to the economy. Knowing that it’s a case by case to use remote sensing sensors depending on the conditions involved and the availability of data, Satellite imagery is not always available all the time due to its revisit times and other factors like cloud effects for example plus highresolution satellite imagery is expensive to purchase frequently. Medium-low resolution imageries are good for monitoring vegetation uses for instance, is not the best option for emergency response and disaster management purposes especially the critical impact of oil to the environment and coastal communities like anglers or touristic places. The selection of sensors depends on different factors such as working during the day or night times, the weather conditions and clouds, amount of discharged oil and its relative thickness on ground for oil spills studies
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