Oil Spill Detection and Red Tide Monitoring using ASAR and Optical Data in Coastal Water around Hong Kong and its Vincinity

Principal Investigator: Prof. Zhang Yuanzhi

Start Date:	2007/04/16
End Date:	2008/04/15
Type of Grant:	Direct Grant for Research (2006-2007)- 2nd Round

Hong Kong is surrounded by potential oil pollution sources: harbors, ports, and navigation water ways with ten thousands of shipˇ¦s come-and-go every year, offshore fishery grounds, and offshore oil and gas drilling and exploration around Hong Kong in South China Sea (SCS). Recently, large areas of oil films have frequently appeared around Hong Kong waters, and formed a severe threat to the marine environment. Previous studies have showed that SAR imaging is an effective approach for monitoring of oil slicks on the coastal water and ocean surface.

Red tide may cause a destroyed disaster to marine aqua-culture and may severely destroy marine environment. The coastal waters along South China Sea including Hong Kong waters are the ocean areas favorable for red tide (or algal blooms) because of warm weather and eutrophication. Previous studies have demonstrated that optical imageries are effective for monitoring of red tide in the marine environment. But SAR data should be useful for monitoring red tide in the case when optical images are limited in the cloudy and rainy situation. Therefore, oil spill detection and red tide monitoring using ASAR and optical data are critical research topics in the coastal region around Hong Kong and its vicinity.