Application of remote sensing data for oil spill monitoring in the Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This paper describes the application of remote sensing data for oil spill monitoring in the Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the emergency, Landsat-5/TM (Thematic Mapper) and Radarsat-1 data were acquired to monitor the location of the spill and its movement. Image classification procedures have been utilized to highlight oil-covered areas on the water surface. Ambiguities in the oil detection were resolved with the aid of ancillary information in a GIS (geographic information system) environment. The results obtained helped PETROBRAS to optimize the emergency response procedures and subsequent cleaning efforts.