RADAR IMAGERY OF OIL SLICKS

A joint agency controlled oil slick experiment, sponsored by the United States Coast Guard, was conducted in the Pacific Ocean in the Fall of 1970. The Naval Research Laboratory's synthetic aperture radar was used to detect and monitor the slicks at frequencies of 428, 1228, 4455, and 8910 MHz during the low sea conditions encountered. At frequencies of 1228 MHz and higher, the slicks were depicted with sharp boundaries. At 428 MHz, the boundaries were indistinct. Approximately 400 liters of oil was detected as it was being discharged from the generating ship and larger spills were mapped from the initial thickness to equilibrium thickness of 1 micron or less. Thin streamers of oil and wind blown films were also imaged. Area growth rates were obtained for 2500 liter spills of API 26.1 crude oil and API 9.7 fuel oil on a calm sea. The respective rates, from approximately 1 to 4 hours after the spills, were 134 sq m/sec and 16 sq m/sec.

• Corporate Authors:

  Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

  3 Park Avenue, 17th Floor
  New York, NY  United States  10016-5997
• Authors:
  • Pilon, R O
  • Purves, C G
• Publication Date: 1973-9

Media Info

• Pagination: p. 630-636
• Serial:
  • IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems
  • Volume: AES9
  • Issue Number: 5
  • Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Detection and identification; Detectors; Mapping; Monitoring; Oil spill cleanup; Oil spills; Pollution; Radar
• Old TRIS Terms: Oil detection; Oil spill detection; Oil spill mapping; Radar oil slick detection
• Subject Areas: Environment; Marine Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00051829
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Engineering Index
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Mar 25 1974 12:00AM