GOM TRACS: Oil Thickness and Emulsion Classification from Remote Sensing

NOAA's Deepwater Horizon Lessons Learned Studies collected these data to develop methods for estimating oil slick coverage and thickness. The research involved synoptic collection of satellite and airborne imagery, surface characterization, and chemistry at the MC20 site, which has experienced a chronic oil discharge since 2004. This specific dataset is part of field research undertaken in 2016, 2017, and 2018, funded by the U.S. Department of the Interior and NOAA.

Use Cases

• Train machine learning models for oil slick classification based on satellite and airborne imagery mentioned in the description.
• Develop algorithms for estimating oil thickness and emulsion mixtures using the described synoptic remote sensing data.
• Analyze chronic oil discharge patterns and environmental impact at the MC20 site based on the multi-year field research.
• Validate remote sensing platforms and methods for oil spill response and preparedness.

Strengths

• Data is part of a structured NOAA study with funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior and Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
• Research spans multiple years (2016, 2017, 2018) at a known chronic discharge site (MC20) providing temporal context.
• Integrates multiple data collection methods including satellite imagery, airborne imagery, and surface characterization.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for specific modeling tasks.
• Primary file formats are PDF and HTML, which may require extraction or conversion for direct 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

Field research undertaken in 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 22:32:01.451494; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Mississippi Canyon lease block #20 (MC20) in the Gulf of Mexico, near Louisiana.