Oil-Spill Monitoring in the Coastal Waters of Hong Kong and Vicinity

Abstract

In this study, we applied the edge-detection method of oil-spill monitoring to extract oil-spill features observed by the ENVISAT Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) images over the coastal waters of Hong Kong and vicinity in northern South China Sea. Two examples in 2007 and 2008 over the coastal waters of the study area show that oil spills can be successfully detected by ASAR images at wind speeds around 4∼ 6 m/s independent of wind direction. The study also shows that it could be helpful for evaluating the potential impacts of oil spills on the coastal environment in Hong Kong and vicinity.

Keywords:

• Oil spills
• ASAR image
• Hong Kong coastal waters
• northern South China Sea

Acknowledgements

ASAR data from the ASAR Ground Station at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and MODIS/ASTER data from NASA are highly appreciated. The study was jointly supported by CUHK Direct Grant projects (0455188, 2020928 and 2021072) and GRF (CUHK454909).