Near real time oil spill detection and monitoring using satellite optical data

Timely detection and continuously updated information are fundamental in reducing the ecological impact of the different sources of sea pollution. Satellite remote sensing, especially from meteorological platforms having a high temporal resolution and an easy data delivery, can be profitably used for a near real time sea monitoring. Recently, a new methodology for oil spill detection and monitoring, based on the general Robust Satellite Technique (RST) approach, has been proposed. This technique has shown, by using AVHRR Thermal Infrared (TIR) data, a good capability in automatically detect, with high level of reliability, oil spill presence. In this paper, such an approach has been exported for the first time to MODIS TIR data. Preliminary results obtained for an oil spill event occurred during Lebanon war in 2006, are shown and discussed.