Gulf of Mexico: MODIS Imagery of Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, Forecast & Maps

Monday, June 14, 2010

Gulf of Mexico: MODIS Imagery of Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill, Forecast & Maps

Deepwater Horizon (MC-252) - Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill

Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico via NASA

download large image (11 MB, JPEG) acquired June 12, 2010

download Google Earth file (13 KB, KMZ) acquired June 12, 2010

On June 12, 2010, oil from the still-leaking Deepwater Horizon well was particularly visible across the northern Gulf of Mexico when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image at 1:55 p.m. Central Daylight Time. Oil appears to have reached beaches and barrier islands in Alabama and the western Panhandle of Florida.
Close to the location of the well, the oil appears gray, but to the northeast, it is bright silver. The increased brightness does not necessarily mean the oil is thicker or more concentrated there; it may simply be that the oil is located in the sunglint region of the image—the spot where the Sun’s reflection would appear if the water surface was as perfectly smooth as a mirror.
Normally, waves blur the Sun’s reflection, diffusing its brightness. Oil smoothes the water surface, making it a better mirror. When the slick appears in that part of the image, viewing conditions are ideal, and the patches and ribbons of oil are extremely bright. When the oil slick is not in the sunglint part of the image, however, it may be imperceptible against the dark background of the ocean.
The large image provided above is at MODIS’ maximum spatial resolution (level of detail). Twice-daily images of the Gulf of Mexico are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in additional resolutions and formats, including a georeferenced version that can be used with Google Earth.

NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.

Instrument:
Aqua - MODIS

Gulf Oil Spill Incident Map:

The maps below are updated daily.

Situation Status Map 6/14/2010 0600 Hrs

Situation Status Map 6/14/2010 0600 Hrs (pdf, 925KB)

Live Video Imagery of Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill:

Live feeds from remotely operated vehicles (ROV) ROV footage - live stream Imagery of Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill

Live video links from the ROV's monitoring the damaged riser. Please be aware, these are live streams and may freeze or be unavailable from time to time.

Live feeds from Ocean Intervention III

ROV 1

ROV 2 Live feeds from Viking Poseidon

ROV 1

ROV 2 Live feeds from Boa Deep C

ROV 1

ROV 2 Live feeds from Skandi

ROV 1

ROV 2 Live feeds from Enterprise

ROV 1

ROV 2 Live feeds from Q4000

ROV 1

ROV 2

Related links

BP response detail page: Subsea response in detail

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Field Guide to NOAA's Oil Trajectory Maps

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Monday, June 14, 2010