Terrestrial Oil Spill Detection and Environmental Impact Monitoring using Multi-Source Earth Observation Data

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Concerns about terrestrial or land-based oil and waste water spills have increased considerably in the past several years in the areas such as Alberta, Canada. For example, in spring 2012, a pipeline leaked 9.5 million liters of industrial waste water, the North America’s biggest spill in recent history, about 20 kilometres of Northeast of Zama City in Northern Alberta [1]. Many ecologically important ecosystems including rivers, lakes, wetlands and vegetation areas are threatened by such spills. With increasing establishment of pipelines and shipment of oil by other means such as rail (Railway Association of Canada) and higher possibility of oil spills, there is an immediate need to develop methods for early detection of spill, extraction and delineation of impacted areas, and monitoring the effectiveness of remediation process. Remote sensing is a rapid and cost effective technology that can be utilized for oil spill detection and environmental impact monitoring.