Airborne Multispectral Remote Sensing of the January 1993 Shetlands Oil Spill

An aerial remote sensing campaign was mobilized at short notice, to obtain multispectral digital imagery over the MV Braer oil spill in the southern Shetland Islands during the week on January 13th, 1993. The Canadian company Borstad Associates Ltd. flew their Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) in a British aircraft under the direction of the National Rivers Authority. In spite of poor weather which prevented imaging of the spill with satellite sensors, several hours of aerial survey data were obtained. In this preliminary report, the mission is described, the coverage obtained is outlined and several examples of the image data are presented. An in-depth analysis has not yet been carried out, but the imagery examined so far show that the CASI was able to map surface sheens, yellow foam, dispersed oil on the surface, and perhaps sub-surface discolouration related to oil or dispersed oil. More examination and comparison with in-situ and other information gathered at the time of the spill is required.