Space for Us

Santa Barbara, California is home to one of the largest naturally occurring oil seeps in the world – making it an important natural laboratory for scientists. To generate operational automated oil spill detection, oil extent geospatial mapping analytics, and oil thickness characterization applications, NASA and NOAA began work on the Marine Oil Spill Thickness (MOST) project.  MOST uses remote sensing data and Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) instrument to develop a way for NOAA to determine where the thickest parts of oil are. 

Frank Monaldo conducts research into how satellite and Earth observation data can be used to determine the "thickness" of an oil spill. As crude oil spreads and becomes thinner, it changes from black or brown to an iridescent or silver sheen. The “Marine Oil Spill Thickness” or MOST product compares the extent of a SAR image brightness reduction in oil-covered areas with open water to assess thickness. According to Monaldo, the thickness classification will be a general one, “it’ll be more like Starbucks; tall, grande, or venti, so for oil, it’ll be a sheen, moderate thickness, or thick oil.”

Fires across the western U.S. pose potential risks to people, infrastructure, and the environment. Developing maps, imagery and analysis, NASA Earth Applied Sciences Program works closely with local agencies and response teams to understand fire risks and impacts. By coordinating efforts with local stakeholders, NASA was able to generate several near real-time fire products. 

In mid-November 2021, heavy rainfall in central North Carolina caused floods with the Neuse River being 7 feet over floodstage. Representatives from the North Carolina Department of Public Safety asked the NASA Applied Sciences Program on how to use NASA data to help map flooding extent. The Disasters Program generated several false-color maps of the region in the days leading up to the peak flood heights to demonstrate the capabilities of remote sensing for flood detection.