Operational Utilization of Aerial Multispectral Remote Sensing during Oil Spill Response: Lessons Learned During the Deepwater Horizon (MC-252) Spill

A rapidly deployable aerial multispectral sensor utilizing four channels in the visible-near-m and one channel in the thermal in was developed along with processing software to identify oil-on-water and map its spatial extents and thickness distribution patterns. Following validation over natural oil seeps and at Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement's (BSEE's) Ohmsett test tank, the system was utilized operationally on a near-daily basis for three months during the Deepwater Horizon (MC-252) spill in the Gulf of Mexico in summer 2010. Digital, GIS-compatible analyses were produced and disseminated following each flight mission. The analysis products were utilized for a multitude of response activities including daily offshore oil recovery planning, oil trajectory modeling, dispersant application effect documentation, beached oil mapping and documentation of the relative oil amount along the spill's offshore perimeter. The system's prime limitation was its relatively narrow imaging footprint and low sun angle requirement to minimize sunglint, both of which limited the total area that could be imaged each day. This paper discusses the system's various applications as well as limitations that were encountered during its use in the Deepwater Horizon incident.