Microwave Radiometry for Oil Pollution Monitoring, Measurements, and Systems

Work is presently carried out in Europe to change the Status of the microwave radiometer, namely, to develop it from a research instrument to an operational instrument-especially for measuring oil pollution on the sea surface. The Technical University of Denmark (TUD), with its long experience in airborne microwave radiometry, is heavily involved in this process. The TUD multichannel imaging radiometer system has been flown in several large-scale oil-pollution experiments, the collected data have been analyzed, and they have revealed that care must be exercised to obtain accurate oil volume estimations. Computer simulations of the total measurement situation have shown how the observed difficulties come about and have indicated the countermeasures to apply. Based on the above-mentioned exercises, optimum (and practical) systems are being developed.