Earth  ID: 10617

Three Months of Oil: Satellites View Gulf Oil Spill

Released on July 19, 2010
On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, triggering the largest oil spill in U.S. history. The MODIS instrument, on board NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites, continues to capture imagery of the region. This short video time series shows a satellite perspective of the spill through July 12, 2010, and updates the earlier NASA video time series released on May 27, 2010. The oil slick appears a dull grayish-beige in the images and changes due in part to to changing weather, ocean currents, and the use of oil dispersing chemicals. The oil slick only appears clearly in MODIS imagery when the sun is a a particular angle in relation to the satellite's position as it orbits over the Gulf. In areas where sunlight reflects off the ocean's surface toward the satellite, oil-slicked water usually looks brighter than cleaner ocean water in the region.Images in the video time series were selected that show the spill most clearly. The full image archive is available on the MODIS Rapid Response web site.
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Satellite View of the Gulf of Mexico's Oil Spill
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. April 12, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. April 21, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. April 29, 2010
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Aqua Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. May 9, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. May 12, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. May 17, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. May 24, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. May 31, 2010
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Aqua Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. June 10, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. June 18, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. June 25, 2010
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Terra Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. July 4, 2010
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Aqua Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. July 12, 2010
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Aqua Satellite view of the Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico. July 14, 2010

Credits

Stuart A. Snodgrass (HTSI): Video Editor
Jennifer A. Shoemaker (UMBC): Producer
Stuart A. Snodgrass (HTSI): Producer
Pankaj K. Jaiswal (SAIC): Project Support
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/10617

Mission:
Terra

Data Used:
Terra and Aqua/MODIS/Band Combination 1, 4, 3 also referred to as: True Color
NASA
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Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

Goddard TV Tape:
G2010-080 -- Gulf Oil Spill

Keywords:
DLESE >> Environmental science
SVS >> HDTV
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Environmental Impacts
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Human Health
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Water Quality/Water Chemistry
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Environmental Impacts >> Contaminants
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Environmental Impacts >> Fossil Fuel Burning
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Environmental Impacts >> Oil Spill
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Environmental Impacts >> Water Management
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Human Dimensions >> Human Health >> Public Health
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Hydrosphere >> Water Quality/Water Chemistry >> Contaminants
NASA Science >> Earth

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0