Development of an algorithm for automatic detection of oil slicks from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery in the Gulf of Guinea

Abstract

Pollution in the marine environment caused by oil spills is of great concern to coastal states due to its ecological, environmental and socio-economic impacts. The main objective of this research was to develop an adaptive oil spill detection algorithm for the Gulf of Guinea, and to estimate the location and spatial extent of oil slick in an acquired SAR imagery. The relevance of the use of space borne data for oil slick monitoring is evident in increased vessel traffic and oil drilling activities off the coast of West Africa. Image processing of acquired SAR image of the region involved the application of a median filter, local thresholding, classification, area calculation, and location extraction. Two dark spots were classified as slicks on Radarsat-2 imagery acquired on 18 May, 2008. The information derived from this research is essential for automatic processing and future implementation of oil slick detection and monitoring programme in the Gulf of Guinea. © 2012 IEEE.