Oil spill and debris detection using image processing

Abstract

Marine life is a huge ecosystem that faces many threats, the biggest one being pollution. And one of the major contamination sources are oil spills. Oil spills can be devastating, especially when a large area of the ocean/sea is covered with it. Oil that gets leaked into the ocean pollutes the water and prevents algae from getting sunlight and fish from getting the oxygen trapped in water. The oil also gets trapped in the wings of birds that prey on the fish, making it difficult for them to fly. In short, oil can pose a great threat to ocean life if not taken care of. Here, a quick detection software can help in alerting about the spread of a potentially harmful oil spill and hence reduce its effect on the ocean. Image processing is a rapidly growing technology, which has applications in computer vision as well as remote sensing. We aim to broaden its range of application in controlling global pollution by industrial wastes.