Thermal Infrared Contrast Between Different Types of Oil Slicks on Top of Water Bodies

Thermal remote sensing is an effective technique for marine oil slick detection. However, many factors, such as the oil type, slick thickness, sensor capability, and the background environment, can together have an impact on the remotely sensed thermal imagery. These cross-coupling effects can usually be clarified by ground-based experiments. In this letter, four different types of oil slicks on water bodies were prepared and their brightness temperatures (BTs) measured periodically in an outdoor experiment. The results indicated that there are obvious differences in the BTs between the different types of oil, especially between crude and refined oil. Defined BT time-changing contrast coefficient of different type of oil slicks numerically displays these significant difference in different observed periods. These results imply that thermal sensors may be used to discern the type of oil slick and that time series of thermal observations will be able to help with oil-type detection in the future. Moreover, the optimal strategy is to make a series of observations covering the cooling period from noon (the optimal detection time) to around sunset.