Open AccessPolarimetric synthetic aperture radar utilized to track oil spills
Author(s) -
Migliaccio Maurizio,
Nunziata Ferdinando,
Brown Carl E.,
Holt Benjamin,
Li Xiaofeng,
Pichel William,
Shimada Masanobu
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2012eo160001
Subject(s) - petroleum , submarine pipeline , petroleum engineering , oil spill , drilling , offshore drilling , environmental science , track (disk drive) , fossil fuel , geology , oceanography , engineering , waste management , mechanical engineering , paleontology
The continued demand for crude oil and related petroleum products along with the resulting upward spiral of the market price of oil have forced oil exploration and production companies to seek out new reserves farther offshore and in deeper waters. The United States is among the top five nations globally in terms of estimated offshore oil reserves and petroleum production. Yet deepwater drilling to extract these reserves is a major engineering challenge for oil companies. Moreover, such drilling activity also comes with a significant environmental risk, and the extremely high pressures associated with deepwater oil wells mean that the mitigation of accidental releases from a deepwater spill is truly a challenging endeavor.