Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Detecting Surface Oil Using Unsupervised Learning Techniques On Modis Satellite Data, Joshua Kidd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The release of crude oil or other petroleum based products into marine habitats can have a devastating impact on the environment as well as the local economies that rely on these waters for commercial fishing and tourism. The Deepwater Horizon catastrophe that started on April 20th 2010 leaked an estimated 4.4 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico over a 3 month period threatening thousands of species and crippling the gulf coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) used several satellite remote sensing technologies to manually track and predict the extent and location of oil on …