Image segmentation is a key step of oil spills detection in SAR images. For the problem that the traditional multi-spectral clustering algorithm with the features extraction by GLCM (Gray-Level Co-occurrence Matrix) has such limitations as direction sensitivities and difficulties in selecting the best feature combination etc., this paper proposes a multi-scale segmentation method of oil spills ...

An oil spill is the accidental or intentional discharge of petroleum products into the environment due to human activities. Although oil spills are actually just a little percent of the total world oil pollution problem, they represent the most visible form of it. The impact on the ecosystems can be severe as well as the impact on economic activities. Oil spill cleanup is a very difficult and e...

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in the accidental release of millions barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Photoinduced toxicity following coexposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation is one mechanism by which polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from oil spills may exert toxicity. Mahi-mahi (Coryphaena hippurus), an important fishery resource, have positively buoyant, tra...

Rapid growth in unconventional oil and gas (UOG) has produced jobs, revenue, and energy, but also concerns over spills and environmental risks. We assessed spill data from 2005 to 2014 at 31 481 UOG wells in Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Pennsylvania. We found 2-16% of wells reported a spill each year. Median spill volumes ranged from 0.5 m3 in Pennsylvania to 4.9 m3 in New Mexico; th...

Dispersants are a preapproved chemical response agent for oil spills off portions of the U.S. coastline, including the Texas-Louisiana coast. However, questions persist regarding potential environmental risks of dispersant applications in nearshore regions (within three nautical miles of the shoreline) that support dense populations of marine organisms and are prone to spills resulting from hum...

The conservation of seabirds requires maintenance and enhancement of their populations by reducing losses at sea and on breeding colonies. The two major methods of achieving this conservation goal use fundamentally different means. Limiting seabird mortality at sea, principally from oil spills or fishery bycatch, requires political and legal skills in dealing with industry, changing fishing tec...

Electrospun non-woven poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) microfiber meshes are described as biodegradable, mechanically robust, and reusable polymeric oil sorbents capable of selectively retrieving oil from simulated oil spills in both fresh and seawater scenarios. Hydrophobic PCL meshes have >99.5% (oil over water) oil selectivity and oil absorption capacities of ~10 grams of oil per gram of sorbent m...

We investigate the potential of multi-polarization and multi-frequency SAR systems to discriminate oil-in-sea-ice mixtures from newly frozen and young sea ice. The dielectric properties of oil emulsions, for a range of oil volume fractions, and theoretical co-polarization ratios for relevant media are modeled and discussed. We also compare the co-polarization ratios computed from actual detecte...

The shipping volume in inland waterways has been rapidly increasing recent years. However, it is still challenging to trace oil spills caused by maritime accidents. In this study, the spill dispersion trajectory rivers was obtained simulating of particles under different waterway conditions based on a simulated flow field. Firstly, field using fluid (VOF) model and solution an open-channel equa...

BACKGROUND Mangroves are transitional coastal ecosystems in tropical and sub-tropical regions and represent biologically important and productive ecosystems. Despite their great ecological and economic importance, mangroves are often situated in areas of high anthropogenic influence, being exposed to pollutants, such as those released by oil spills. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A microcosm ...