-1-AdvancedSpaceTechnologyforOilSpillDetectionMaralH.Zeynalova,RustamB.RustamovandSaidaE.SalahovaAbstractEnvironmentalpollution,includingoilspillisoneofthemajorecologicalproblems.Negativehumanimpactsdemandstodevelopappropriatelegislationswithinthenationalandinternationalframeworkformarineandcoastalenvironmentaswellastheonshoreprotection.Severalseas,forinstancetheMediterranean,theBalticandtheNorthSeasweredeclaredasspecialareaswhereshipdischargesarecompletelyprohibited(SatelliteMonitoring,LUKOIL).InthisregardenvironmentalprotectionoftheCaspianSeahasaprioritystatusforAzerbaijanasaclosedwaterbasinecosystem.Thisarea,asahighlysensitiveareaintheWorldrequirespermanentecologicalmonitoringserviceswhereoilandgasfromthesubsurfaceoftheCaspianSeaisdevelopingalmostmorethanacentury.ThisstatusoftheCaspianSeaisexpectedtoberetentionatleastforthecomingfiftyyears.Remotesensingisakeyinstrumentforsuccessfulresponsetotheonshoreandoffshoreoilspillsimpacts.Thereisanextremeneedfortimelyrecognitionoftheoilspilledareaswiththeexactplaceoflocation,extentofitsoilcontaminationandverificationofpredictionsofthemovementandfateofoilslicks.BlackSearegionisexpectedtohaveadramaticincreaseinthetrafficofcrudeoil(mainlyfromtheCaspianregion).ThemainreasonforthesechangesisthegrowthofoilindustryinbothKazakhstanandAzerbaijan.Therealsubstantialchangesintankermovementsandroutsarenotcleartillnow.Anecessityforacontinuousobservationofthemarineenvironmentcomesaforewhenclarifyingthetendenciesofchangesintheconcentrationoftheparticularlydangerouspollutingsubstancesaswellasthebehaviorofdifferentkindsofpollutingsubstancesinthedetectedareai.e.,creationofasystemformonitoringthepollution(L.A.StoyanovandG.D.Balashov,UNISPACEIII,Varna,Bulgaria).TheexplorationofgeologicalandoilproductionstartedintheshelfoftheCaspianSeaalongtimeago.TheCaspianSeaisahighlysensitiveregiononecologicalandbiodiversitypointofview.Oildumpsandemergencyoilspillhaveanextremelybadinfluenceonthemarineandearthecosystemandcanleadtotheecologicalbalance.Certainlythegeneralissueofoilandgaspipelinesafetyincludesaspectsofnaturaldisastersandproblemsrelatedtotheenvironment.AftersuccessfulconstructionoftheBaku-Tbilisi-CeyhanoilpipelineandBaku-Tbilisi-ErzrumgaspipelinetheseaspectsespeciallybecameveryimportantforAzerbaijananddefinitely,fortheregion.TheBaku-Tbilisi-CeyhanCrudeOilExportPipelinecomprisesaregionalcrudeoilexporttransportationsystem,approximately1750inoveralllength.Generally,oilspillmonitoringintheoffshoreandonshoreiscarriedoutbymeansofspeciallyequippedairborne,shipsandsatellites.Obviously,daylightsandweatherconditionslimitmarineandaerialsurveillanceofoilspills.KeywordsSpacetechnology.Spaceimage.OilspilDetectionIntroductionGenerally,oilspillageiscategorizedintofourgroups:minor,medium,majoranddisaster.Minorspillneithertakesplacewhenoildischargeislessthan25barrelsininlandwatersnorlessthan250barrelsonland,theoffshoreorcoastalwatersthatdoesnorposeathreattothepublichealthorwelfare.Incaseofthemediumspillthespillmustbe250barrelsorlessintheinlandwaterorfrom250to2500barrelsonland,offshoreandcoastalwaterwhileforthemajorspill,thedischargetotheinlandwatersisinexcessof250barrelsonland,offshoreorcoastalwaters.Thedisasterreferstoanyuncontrolledwellblowout,pipelineruptureorstoragetankfailurewhichposesanimmediatethreattopublichealthorwelfare.Satellite-basedremotesensingequipmentinstalledinthesatelliteisusedformonitoring,detectingandidentifyingsourcesofaccidentaloilspills.Remotesensingdevicesincludetheuseofinfrared,videoandphotographyfromairborneplatforms.Inthemeantimepresentlyanumberofsystemslikeairborneradar,laserfluorescence,microwaveradiometer,SAR,ERS1,ERS2,ENVISATandLANDSATsatellitesystemsareappliedforthesamepurposes.Currentlymorethanadozensatellitesareintheorbitproducingpetabytesofdatadaily.Detaileddescriptionofthesesatellites,majorcharacteristicsofsensorscanbesummarizedasfollows:Spatialresolutionofsensorsrangesfrom1meter(e.g.IKONOS)toseveralkilo-meters(e.g.GEOS)-2-Satellitesensorscommonlyusevisibletonear-infrared,infraredandmicrowaveportionsofelectromagneticspectrum;Spectralresolutionofsatellitedatarangesfromsingleband(Radarsat)tomultibands(e.g.MODISwith36bands)Temporalresolution(repeattime)variesfromseveraltimesaday(e.g.Meteosat)Themajorityofsatellitesaresunsynchronousandpolarorbiting,crossingtheequatorataround10a.m.localtimeduringtheirdescendingpassDigitaldataareavailableinbothpanchromatic(blackandwhite)andmulti-spectralmodesUsingtherecentadvancedspacetechnology,thefollowingmethodologycanbeappliedfortheoilspillsdetections:Developmentofoilspilldetectionmethodsforthepurposeofpracticaloilspillsurveillancerelatedtothespaceimagerywithapplicationofanyweatherconditions;Adaptationoftheobservationtoothersystemstopredicttheoilspillspreaddirectionandflowratecharacteristics,determinationthepollutantcontaminations;DevelopmentofappropriatedataanduserinterfaceThereisaneedforeffectivelydirectspillcountermeasuressuchasmechanicalcontainmentandrecovery,dispersantapplicationandburning,protectionofsitesalongthreatenedcoastlinesa