Oil source-fingerprinting in support of polarimetric radar mapping of Macondo-252 oil in Gulf Coast marshes

Marine Pollution Bulletin
By: , and 

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Abstract

Polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (PolSAR) data exhibited dramatic, spatially extensive changes from June 2009 to June 2010 in Barataria Bay, Louisiana. To determine whether these changes were associated with the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill, twenty-nine sediment samples were collected in 2011 from shoreline and nearshore–interior coastal marsh locations where oil was not observed visually or with optical sensors during the spill. Oil source-fingerprinting and polytopic vector analysis were used to link DWH oil to PolSAR changes. Our results prove that DWH oil extended beyond shorelines and confirm the association between presence of DWH oil and PolSAR change. These results show that the DWH oil spill probably affected much more of the southeastern Louisiana marshland than originally concluded from ground and aerial surveys and verify that PolSAR is a powerful tool for tracking oil intrusion into marshes with high probability even where contamination is not visible from above the canopy.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Oil source-fingerprinting in support of polarimetric radar mapping of Macondo-252 oil in Gulf Coast marshes
Series title Marine Pollution Bulletin
DOI 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.10.032
Volume 89
Issue 1-2
Year Published 2014
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Publisher location London, England
Contributing office(s) National Wetlands Research Center, Wetland and Aquatic Research Center
Description 11 p.
First page 85
Last page 95
Country United States
State Louisiana
Online Only (Y/N) N
Additional Online Files (Y/N) N
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