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Investigating the effect of oil spills
on the environment and public health.
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Funding Source: Year One Block Grant - The Alabama Marine Environmental Science Consortium

Project Overview

Oil Spill Impact along the Alabama Coastal Areas

Principal Investigator
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Earth System Science Center
Member Institutions
Mississippi State University, University of Alabama in Huntsville

Summary:

In the context of the Horizon Oil Spill event, impact of oil on ecosystems is the focus of ongoing and future studies based on detailed in situ observations at small spatial scales. Upscaling of findings from these detailed observational studies to assess the potential impacts at larger scales require quantification of oil exposure. This effort proposes to develop such a metric for the Alabama coastal areas by producing a spatial map of proportion of time over which specific location was impacted by oil during the duration of the spill event using satellite imagery and a Lagrangian particle transport model.


This research was made possible by a grant from The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative.
www.gulfresearchinitiative.org