The PRIMI Project: August- September 2009 validation cruise on oil spill detection and fate

In the framework of the ASI PRIMI Project, CNR-ISAC, in collaboration with the PRIMI partners, organized a validation cruise for the PRIMI oil spill monitoring and forecasting system on board the CNR R/V Urania. The cruise (Aug. 6 – Sept. 7 2009) took place in the Sicily Strait, an area affected by large oil tanker traffic. The cruise plan was organized in order to have the ship within the selected SAR image frames at acquisition time so that the ship could move toward the oil slick and verify it via visual and instrumental inspection. During the cruise, several oil spills, presumably being the result of illegal tank washing, were detected by the PRIMI system and were verified in situ. Preliminary results indicate that SAR and optical satellites are able to detect heavy and thin film oil spills, the maturity of oil spill forecasting models and that further work combining satellite, model and in situ data is necessary to assess the spill severity from the signature in satellite imagery.