VALIDATION OF SPACEBORNE RADAR MULTI-ANGLE METHOD FOR THE SEA SURFACE OIL POLLUTIONS DIAGNOSTICS

Abstract

In the article the validation of the multiangle method for spaceborne radar diagnostics of oil pollutions on the sea surface are described. The validation was performed by comparing the radar estimates of the mass and thickness of the polluted oil film with the numerical simulation results obtained by the new Floating Object Tracking System (FOTS) model of oil drift dynamics. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite Envisat-1 data of the oil-producing area “Oil Stones” in the Caspian surveillances were used for the analysis. FOTS model allows us to calculate the displacement and changing in the mass and size of the oil slick basing only on available satellite measurements and atmospheric reanalysis data. The model takes into account the main processes impacting on the oil slicks dynamics (gravitational spreading, advection transport, dispersion, emulsification, turbulent mixing and evaporation). The model allows to calculate the changes in thickness, and the oil slick displacements in the timeslot between two consecutive radar images, and to estimate spilled oil volume. Satisfactory agreement between the oil film thickness that was calculated by using radar measurements and oil drift model results is observed, which confirms the reliability of the radar multi-angle method. The work was performed as a part of the project 11140 with European Space Agency (ESA) and was supported by the Federal Target Program 1.2 “Study on the technology of monitoring and forecasting the water environment ecological state of the sea shelf: Agreement with the Russian Ministry of Education 14.604.21.0044”

Keywords

• altimetry
• envisat-1
• multi-angle method
• oil drift model
• oil stones
• radar images
• synthetic aperture radar
• the caspian sea