GOM Oil On Water Sampling Photos: Aerial and Satellite Imagery from MC20 Field Research

NOAA's Deepwater Horizon Lessons Learned Studies collected synoptic satellite and airborne imagery to estimate oil slick coverage and thickness. This dataset contains photos from field research at the Mississippi Canyon lease block #20 (MC20), a site with a chronic oil discharge, undertaken in 2016, 2017, and 2018. The research was funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior, BSEE, and the Oil Spill Preparedness Division.

Use Cases

• Training computer vision models for oil slick detection based on aerial and satellite imagery.
• Analyzing oil emulsion mixtures and thickness estimation based on surface oil characterization data.
• Studying chronic oil discharge patterns based on multi-year field research at a specific offshore site.
• Validating remote sensing platforms for environmental hazards management based on synoptic data collection methods.

Strengths

• Data collected as part of a formal NOAA Deepwater Horizon Lessons Learned Study.
• Multi-year temporal coverage from field research in 2016, 2017, and 2018.
• Synoptic collection of multiple data types including imagery, surface characterization, and chemistry.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and dataset scale are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the specific MC20 study site.

Provenance

Source

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Department of Commerce.

Collection Method

Field research involving synoptic collection of satellite imagery, airborne imagery, surface oil characterization, oil and water chemistry, and subsurface oil slick data.

Time Range

2016, 2017, 2018

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:24:33.552207; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mississippi Canyon lease block #20 (MC20), Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, North America.