GOM Oil On Water Sampling Track: Gulf of Mexico Oil Slick Field Data from 2016-2018

Field research data collected by NOAA as part of the Deepwater Horizon Lessons Learned Studies on oil slick detection. The dataset includes synoptic satellite imagery, airborne imagery, surface oil characterization, and water chemistry from the Mississippi Canyon lease block #20 (MC20) site. This research was funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement between 2016 and 2018.

Use Cases

• Train remote sensing models to detect oil slicks based on satellite and airborne imagery mentioned in the description.
• Analyze relationships between surface oil characterization and subsurface oil slick data for spill dynamics.
• Validate methods for estimating oil slick coverage and thickness using multi-platform field data.
• Study chronic oil discharge patterns at a specific offshore site (MC20) over a multi-year period.

Strengths

• Data is part of a formal NOAA study funded by U.S. Department of the Interior and BSEE.
• Collection integrates multiple data sources: satellite, airborne, surface, and subsurface measurements.
• Research was conducted over three years (2016, 2017, 2018) at a real-world chronic discharge site.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is available only in PDF and HTML formats, which may complicate direct machine analysis.

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 22:26:26.840636; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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