DETECTION OF PETROLEUM SPILLS

AERIAL MULTIBAND PHOTOGRAPHS WERE USED TO LOCATE OIL AND OIL WASTE SPILLS IN REFINERY AREAS LOCATED ADJACENT TO INLAND WATERWAYS. THE PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES WERE EVALUATED AS PART OF AN AERIAL SURVEILLANCE SPILL PREVENTION SYSTEM. THE PHOTOGRAPHS WERE TAKEN WITH AN ARRAY OF FOUR 70-MM CAMERAS, EACH EMPLOYING A 50-MM FOCAL LENGTH LENS FROM A LIGHT AIRCRAFT AT ALTITUDES RANGING FROM 1500 TO 2000 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL. THE MULTIBAND PHOTOGRAPHS WERE OBTAINED BY COMBINING EACH OF NINE FILTERS WITH EACH OF THREE BLACK-AND-WHITE FILMS HAVING DIFFERENT SPECTRAL RESPONSES. A COMPARISON WAS MADE OF THE SPECTRAL CONTRAST IMAGE ENHANCEMENT ASCERTAINED ON THE MULTIBAND PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE USE OF FILTERS WHICH EITHER TRANSMITTED OR SUPPRESSED THE TARGET REFLECTED RADIATION. CONVENTIONAL AND INFRARED COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS WERE EVALUATED ALONG WITH THE BLACK-AND-WHITE MULTIBAND PHOTOGRAPHS TO DETERMINE AN EFFECTIVE AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIC SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING PETROLEUM DERIVATIVES LOCATED AT VARIOUS SITES WITHIN THE REFINERY COMPOUND.