More About the Oil Analysis Program - Satellite Services Division - Office of Satellite Data Processing and Distribution

The SAB Oil Analysis Program

SAB began developing the capability to observe and report the location and extent of anomalies (thought to be oil) on the surface of the ocean in 2008, in response to a formal request from NOAA National Ocean Service (NOS). At that time, very limited data was at our disposal, but even this was enough to produce useful information that we disseminated as an experimental product to NOS and Coast Guard users. At the same time, we were simultaneously seeking greater access to imagery and other resources in order to increase the quality of the products and to transition the product into operations. The Deepwater Horizon incident and the subsequent demand for additional analysis caused additional resources to be allocated to the fledgling program. We now produce the products when suitable imagery is available for well over 200 users including top level Department officials and the White House.

The Experimental Marine Pollution Surveillance Report
— Analysis of oil in one or two satellite passes at a given time

Satellite derived oil analyses are produced as Experimental Marine Pollution Surveillance Reports (EMPSR). This product is a new and still experimental product of the NOAA Satellite Analysis Branch and should be used with caution. In addition, its availability cannot be assured but every attempt will be made to produce it when suitable imagery is available. Since an EMPSR is issued as each new pass arrives,it is the most timely product that we issue. However it typically only covers part of the entire spill area.

Imagery from the following satellites is used in creating this product:

- RADARSAT-1 (Canadian Space Agency)

- RADARSAT-2 (Canadian Space Agency & MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates Ltd)

- COSMO-SkyMed (Italian Space Agency)

- TerraSAR-X (German Aerospace Centre)

- ALOS (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency & Japan Resources Observation System Organization)

- ENVISAT (European Space Agency)

- MODIS (NASA)

- AVHRR on NOAA-15,-17,-19 satellites (NOAA)

- Multispectral Imagery (The Disaster Monitoring Constellation)

- SPOT (SPOT Image & French Government Space Agency - CNES)

The red areas on the map represent a satellite analyst's assessment of the location of oil on the surface of the water as seen in a satellite image. The analyst uses a satellite image along with non-satellite ancillary datasets when creating this product.

Full extent of the oil might not be shown since oil can be too thin for the analyst to see in imagery, and any oil beneath the water surface will also not be seen by the analyst. Also, note the dashed −X− line indicating the boundary of satellite passes… the analyst has no way to determine whether there is oil outside the boundary of the pass. Further information about uncertainty is found in the comments section (white text box) on the product.

The Daily Composite Product
— Combined analysis of all relevant satellite passes that occurred during a given day

The Daily Composite is a new and still experimental product of the NOAA Satellite Analysis Branch and should be used with caution. In addition, its availability cannot be assured but every attempt will be made to produce it by 6AM EDT weekdays and by noon EDT on weekends and holidays whenever there is suitable satellite imagery.

The red areas on the map represent a satellite analyst's assessment of the location of oil on the surface of the water as seen in satellite images. As with the Experimental Marine Pollution Surveillance Report, the full extent of the oil might not be shown since analysts cannot see very thin oil, subsurface oil, or oil outside the boundaries of the day's available passes. Different areas of the spill were observed in satellite images at different times, but all depicted oil was within the time range shown in the green box on the product. (Times are denoted by Coordinated Universal Time.)

Full extent of the oil might not be shown since oil can be too thin for the analyst to see in imagery, and any oil beneath the water surface will also not be seen by the analyst. Also, note the dashed −X− line indicating the boundary of satellite passes… the analyst has no way to determine whether there is oil outside the boundary of the passes. Further information about uncertainty is found in the comments section (white text box) on the product.

The areal extent of the outline of the oil may vary day-to-day based on the amount of available imagery that was received and analyzed, what portions of the Gulf the imagery was taken for, clouds obscuring view of oil in visible imagery, thunderstorms disrupting the sea-surface making it difficult to detect oil, and oil being masked by low winds in radar imagery which can sometime result in a similar signature as oil.

DISCLAIMER

The Oil Analysis Program is a new program producing experimental products for the NOAA Satellite Analysis Branch and should be used with caution. Our products are not fully operational, not supported 24x7 and have not been vetted through the usual quality assurance process. In addition, its availability cannot be assured but every attempt will be made to produce it in a timely fashion when suitable satellite imagery is available.

Full extent of the oil might not be shown since oil can be too thin for the analyst to see in imagery, and any oil beneath the water surface will also not be seen by the analyst. Also, note the dashed −X− line indicating the boundary of satellite passes… the analyst has no way to determine whether there is oil outside the boundary of the passes. Further information about uncertainty is found in the comments section (white box text) on the product.

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Satellite Derived Surface Oil Analysis Program