Use of airborne remote sensing equipment for detecting discharges of oil from offshore installations

Abstract

The use of airborne sensing techniques to detect discharges of oil from offshore installations has been investigated. It is shown that side-looking airborne radar can provide initial detection of oil-like targets from a range of 15 km; the presence of oil can then be confirmed by investigation at close range with a combined infrared/ultraviolet line scanner. During 154 h of flying, 21 oil slicks were detected near offshore installations; however, most of these slicks contained less than 100 litres of oil.