Abstract:

This dataset contains Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) and Landsat/MSS images used to identify the surface oil footprints created by the Ixtoc-I oil spill in 1979. There are two periods of imagery: June 1979-March 1980 is the oil spill period; and Jan. 1981-Dec. 1982 is the reference period. Oil slick surface footprints derived from the images are also included in the dataset. They are either in the format of shapefile or ArcGIS personal geodatabase.

Suggested Citation:

Sun, Shaojie. 2017. Ixtoc-I oil spill footprints derived from Coastal Zone Color Scanner and Landsat/MSS imagery. Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7MG7MHN

Publications:

Sun, S., Hu, C., & Tunnell, J. W. (2015). Surface oil footprint and trajectory of the Ixtoc-I oil spill determined from Landsat/MSS and CZCS observations. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 101(2), 632–641. doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.10.036

Purpose:

This dataset was used to delineate the surface oil footprint created by the Ixtoc-I oil spill in 1979. Major slicks were also mapped to see the oil trajectory in the Gulf of Mexico.

Data Parameters and Units:

Satellite Imagery: CZCS L1A data can be downloaded from 'http://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/'. The data were map projected and processed to Rrc data (..\R4.x267.180-0002\czcs\). Landsat/MSS L1 data can be downloaded from 'http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/'. The data were then radiometric corrected and processed to Rrc data (..\R4.x267.180-0002\landsat\). There are two sub-folders named 'spill_period' and 'reference_period' contains data from 'June 1979 - March 1980' and 'Jan. 1981- Dec. 1982' respectively for both CZCS and Landsat/MSS. Extracted Features: Extracted oil slicks from CZCS are under folder '..\R4.x267.180-0002\shp_data\czcs_shp\', while from Landsat/MSS are under folder '..\R4.x267.180-0002\shp_data\landsat_shp\'. After excluding natural slicks effect in the spill period, surface oil footprint from the Ixtoc-I oil spill were concluded (..\R4.x267.180-0002\shp_data\whole\, in format of ArcGIS personal geodatabase). The names of the files correspond to the date of the satellite imagery. For example, an extracted feature file named “ixtoc1979175LM” located in the '..\R4.x267.180-0002\shp_data\landsat_shp\' directory would indicate that the file contains features extracted from Landsat image series “LM20240461979175AAA05_rgb.TIF”. The two key fields associated with the “extracted features” shapefiles and feature classes are: Data (MM/DD/YYYY) – the date of the imagery used for the extraction; Type (text) – the type of extracted oil feature (emulsion, glint light, glint dark, look like); Additional Features: The folder '..\R4.x267.180-0002\shp_data\base_layer\' contains two shapefiles. The “czcs_boundary” shapefile shows the extent of the CZCS data coverage and does not contain any relevant attributes. The “field_validation” shapefile is a point-feature shapefile that contains the approximate locations of areas used in field validation. The following is a list of attributes for the “field_validation” shapefile: Name (text) – name of the location; City (text) – location city; Oil_type (text) – type of oil observed in field; Photo (text) – name of corresponding field observation photo; Descript (text) – description of oil observed in the field; Time (text/date) – approximate date when photo was taken; Field Validation: Field validation data by Dr.Wes Tunnell are under the folder '..\R4.x267.180-0002\field_validation\'. The folder contains the images used in the field validation along with a Word document that contains information [location name, date (month/year), approximate coordinates of location (D M DS), a description, and a list of related photos] about each field location.

Individual Files: