Maritime Environment Safety: Advanced Oil Spill Detection through AIS and Remote Sensing

Oil spills constitute one of the most devastating environmental disasters that threaten marine ecosystems, coastal communities, and wildlife. From identification to intervention, prompt action is necessary to reduce the impact of oil spills. Traditionally used techniques for detection of oil spills involve direct visual surveillance or simple sampling which continues to be extremely costly, slow, and unsustainable for operating on a larger scale. In this scenario, AIS data, together with technologies for satellite remote sensing, are gradually becoming promising tools for detection and monitoring of oil spills in real time over vast stretches of ocean areas. This paper looks into the feasibility of combining the two types of data, namely vessel movements tracked by AIS, and satellite datasets consisting of SAR and optical imagery for detecting and assessing oil spills in marine waters. The strengths and challenges of integrating them as a way of enhancing the efficiency of oil spill detection and timeliness in the response is highlighted.