Ricerc@Sapienza

The present study investigates an oil spill event in the Al Khafji region using Sentinel 1 SAR images. Al Khafji is on the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in the Persian Gulf and it is considered a neutral zone. Al Khafji region has the potential to produce more than 470,000 barrels of oil per day (Mbbl/d). Methods based on multi sensor satellite images (Sentinel-2, Landsat 8, Terra, Cosmo_SkyMed, RADARSAT, etc.) analysis have been developed for detecting oil slicks from known natural seeps as well as oil spill events.

Spaceborne X-band synthetic aperture radars (SARs) represent a well-established tool for Earth remote sensing at very high spatial resolution (order of meters). Until now, SAR has not been exploited for hydrological cycle modelling and numerical weather forecast, however, there are scientific evidences that at X band and beyond: i) atmospheric precipitation in liquid and ice phase affect SAR imagery and its intensity can be retrieved, ii) snow areal extent and mass (water-equivalent) can be detected and estimated.