Mapping sea water surface in Persian Gulf, oil spill detection using Sentinal-1 images

The present study investigates an oil spill event in the Al Khafji region using Sentinel 1 SAR images. Al Khafji is on the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the Persian Gulf and it is considered a neutral zone. Al Khafji region has the potential to produce more than 470,000 barrels of oil per day (Mbbl/d). Methods based on multi sensor satellite images (Sentinel-2, Landsat 8, Terra, Cosmo_SkyMed, RADARSAT, etc.) analysis have been developed for detecting oil slicks from known natural seeps as well as oil spill events. In this paper, one of these methods is applied to Sentinel 1 images of a known area of natural oil outflow and of a recent oil spill event in Al Khafji zone. The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is recognized as the most important remote sensing tool for sea and ocean waters oil spill monitoring, recording, documentation and dissemination. Oil spills have been detected and characterized by using the SAR images over the Persian Gulf. In particular, this paper discusses oil spills detection in the Persian Gulf assessed by using Sentinel 1 (SAR) images. Results showed the suitability of the VV polarization of the Sentinel-1 for detecting oil-spills as well as the reduced utility of the VH polarization in this context.