Comparative capability analysis of laser multispectral methods for measuring oil slick thickness

Abstract

The remote laser multispectral method capabilities to measure the thickness of the oil slicks on the sea surface in various spectral bands have been analysed. The best option (in terms of the band and the recovery accuracy of the oil film thickness on the water surface) is to use the eye-safe spectral band of about 2.1 μm. It is shown that a use of the discretely wavelength-tuneable laser for 5 wavelengths in spectral interval about 2.1 μm and the quasi-solution search method for mesurement data processing, enables us, with the mean square value of measurement noise 2 %, to recover the thickness of the oil slicks on the sea surface from ∼ units μm to ∼ 200 μm with an error of no more than 30%.