Detection and Characterization of Anthropogenic Oil Pollution in the Barents Sea by Synthetic Aperture Radar

Økende aktivitet i fjerntliggende polare områder impliserer en betydelig risiko for petroleumsrelatert forurensing i det sårbare miljøet. Målet med prosjektet er å utvikle metoder basert på syntetisk apertur radar (SAR) for å optimalisere bruken av data fra jordobservasjonssatellitter til å overvåke menneskeskapt forurensing i arktiske farvann. Med tanke på et potensielt oljesøl i isbelagte farvann, vil det bli lagt særlig vekt på å utvikle nye algoritmer for å skille mellom mørke fenomen i SAR målinger, for eksempel oljesøl og ny-formet is. Partner i prosjektet fra russisk side er P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology ved Russian Academy of Science. Nasjonalt er også Northern Research Institute, Norsk Polarinstitutt og Kongsberg Satellite Services AS involvert. Prosjektleder er professor Camilla Brekke ved UiT Norges arktiske universitet.

The overall goal of this project is to increase the knowledge required for optimal utilization of Earth observation satellite data for environmental pollution monitoring at the high latitudes. The project shall gain new insight to the characterization o f dark slicks in the Barents Sea and Arctic region with satellite based polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR). Oil pollution, biogenic slicks and new sea ice will be the primary surface cover classes under investigation. Specifically, new algorithm s for discriminating between dark phenomena, e.g., oil spills and grease ice, in SAR measurements will be developed, targeting the challenges we will face with a potential spill in the ice-infested waters of the Arctic region. Satellite measurements from both quad-polarization SAR modes (with smaller swath widths) and the emerging compact polarimetry modes (with larger coverage) will be the target input data types for the algorithms developed. Collection of ground truth data (including LIDAR data) corresp onding to the satellite measurements is considered the most challenging part of this project. This proposal is seen as highly relevant to the call, as it addresses the urgent need of environmental monitoring capabilities related to human caused oil poll ution in the Barents Sea. The outcome of this project has obvious and direct relevance for the operational oil spill preparedness and clean up services.