Ira Leifer1, Rob Green2, Randy Albertson3, Eliza Bradley1, Roger Clark4, Philip Dennison5, Michael Eastwood2, Michael Goodman3, Anthony Guillory3, Todd

Hoefen4, Ray Kokaly4, Bill Lehr6, Scott Matheson5, Ian McCubbin7, Elijah Ramsey4, Dar Roberts1, Gregg Swayze4, Bruce Tagg3, Susan Ustin8, and the AVIRIS team

Petroleum, NASA, and a 21st Century Oil Spill

Response

flattened

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

Heterogeneity of Oil Ecosystem Impact

Scientific Basis: Vegetation Ecosystem Properties with Spectroscopy

Species Type 90% accurate

Species Fractional Cover (Quercus agrifolia)

Full spectrum measurement (380- 2500 nm) allows derivation of vegetation species and functional type and physiological condition

Dennison and Roberts, 2003, Remote Sens. Environ.

Most vulnerable coastline (including calibration sites) surveyed with acceptable to zero cloud cover, including oil slick imaging.

thanks to the dedicated NASA-led interagency teamand

no small amount of weather (clouds) luck

May 6May 10May 11May 13May 17May 18May 19May 20May 23May 24May 25

May 2010 AVIRIS Collection with ER-2

May 6May 10May 11May 13May 17May 18May 19May 20May 23May 24May 25

July 2010 AVIRIS Collection with Twin Otter

May 6May 10May 11May 13May 17May 18May 19May 20May 23May 24May 25

May-Sept. 2010 AVIRIS Collection!!!

0.3 trillion m2 mapped in 4 billion pixels over 38 flight days

Key Scientific Coastal Ecosystem Questions

Which coastal vegetation types/communities are most heavily impacted by oil?

Can oil in the canopy understory be detected directly (i.e., due to its spectroscopic signature) or only indirectly by vegetation stress indicators?

Given different mitigation strategies, what are the most effective in reducing adverse oil impacts?

Can knowledge of past distribution of plant types/communities aid recovery and remediation efforts and/or aid in targeting priority sites for recovery efforts?

Pre-Oil Ecosystem Ground Measurements

Oil impacted Spartina alternifolia in Barataria Bay

AVIRIS flight coverage in May and location of field sites

Species Dominants: NW R13

1650, 830, 677 RGB Wetland Dominants

• Developed a spectral library using USGS CRMS sites

• Selected optimal endmembers and mapped with MESMA the wetland dominants

• Four species mapped included two spartina, aphragmites, and a distichlis

AVIRIS ecosystem species mapping

Species Dominants: SE R131650, 830, 677 RGB Wetland Dominants

• Spartina more dominant towards Northwest

• Phragmites dominates towards southeast

• Distichlis is abundant in zones with high reflectance due to low stature

AVIRIS Ecosystem Impact: First Results