Reconstruction Of Oil Spill Trajectory In The Java Sea, Indonesia Using Sar Imagery

• Published in: Geography, environment, sustainability Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 177 - 184
• Main Authors: Abimanyu, Amarif, Pranowo, Widodo S., Faizal, Ibnu, Afandi, Najma K. A., Purba, Noir P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Lomonosov Moscow State University 05-04-2021
• Subjects: ocean currents; oil spill; oil spill trajectory; satellite sar imagery; the java sea; wind
• ISSN: 2071-9388; 2542-1565
• DOI: 10.24057/2071-9388-2020-21

Oil spill phenomena in the ocean possess a very serious threat to ocean health. On the ocean surface, oil slicks immediately start to spread and mostly end up in the ecosystem. Furthermore, it could threaten the organisms living in the ocean or impact nearby coastal area. The aim of this research was to investigate the trajectories of oil spill based on a real accident in the Java Sea. Tracking oil spills using satellite images is an efficient method that provides valuable information about trajectories, locations and the spread intensity. The objective of this study was to periodically track the trajectory of the oil spill from the Karawang incident using Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. Pre-processing of the images consisted of radiometric and geometric corrections. After the corrections, SAR images were mapped and plotted accordingly. To understand the oil spill trajectories in relation to the oceanic processes, the ocean current pattern map and surface wind roses were also analysed. The processed images from July to October 2019 show a trajectory dominated by the oil spill layers movement towards the west to northwest from the original location along with a decrease in the detected oil spill area over time. The identified trajectories of the oil spill followed the ocean current pattern and surface winds. Thus, these two parameters were considered to be the main factors responsible for the oil spill drift.