After the April 20th explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the world witnessed one of the worst oil spill catastrophes in global history. In an effort to mitigate the disaster, the U.S. government moved quickly to establish a unified command for responding to the spill. Some of the command's most immediate needs were to track the movement of the surface oil slick, establish a baseline measurement of pre-oil coastal ecosystem conditions, and assess potential air quality and water hazards related to the spill. To help address these needs and assist the Federal response to the disaster, NASA deployed several of its airborne and satellite research sensors to collect an unprecedented amount of remotely-sensed data over the Gulf of Mexico region. Although some of these data were shared with the public via the media, much of the NASA data on the disaster was not well known to the Gulf Coast community. The need existed to inform the general public about these datasets and help improve understanding about how NASA's science research was contributing to oil spill response and recovery. With its extensive experience conducting community-oriented remote sensing projects and close ties to organizations around Gulf of Mexico, the NASA DEVELOP National Program stood in a unique position to meet this need

Childs, Lauren M.

Jones, Jason B.

NASA Technical Reports Server

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NASA DEVELOP Students Rev Up Response to Gulf Oil Spill 
 
Jason Jones, DEVELOP National Program, John C. Stennis Space Center, Jason.B.Jones@nasa.gov 
Lauren Childs, DEVELOP National Program, Langley Research Center, Lauren.M.Childs@nasa.gov  
 
NASA Responds to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill 
After the April 20th explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the world 
witnessed one of the worst oil spill catastrophes in global history.  In an effort to mitigate the disaster, the 
U.S. government moved quickly to establish a unified command for responding to the spill.  Some of the 
command’s most immediate needs were to track the movement of the surface oil slick, establish a 
baseline measurement of pre-oil coastal ecosystem conditions, and assess potential air quality and water 
hazards related to the spill.  To help address these needs and assist the Federal response to the disaster, 
NASA deployed several of its airborne and satellite research sensors to collect an unprecedented amount 
of remotely-sensed data over the Gulf of Mexico region.  Although some of these data were shared with 
the public via the media, much of the NASA data on the disaster was not well known to the Gulf Coast 
community.  The need existed to inform the general public about these datasets and help improve 
understanding about how NASA’s science research was contributing to oil spill response and recovery.  
With its extensive experience conducting community-oriented remote sensing projects and close ties to 
organizations around Gulf of Mexico, the NASA DEVELOP National Program stood in a unique position 
to meet this need. 
 
DEVELOP Initiates Regional Public Outreach Campaign 
DEVELOP is a NASA Science Mission Directorate Applied Sciences training and development program. 
Mentored by science advisors from NASA and partner agencies, students conduct applied remote sensing 
projects and demonstrate the relevance of their research to local policy makers.  During the Deepwater 
Horizon oil spill crisis, DEVELOP students capitalized on their collective science research and 
community outreach skills to initiate public campaign across the Gulf Coast highlighting NASA’s 
contributions to oil spill response, recovery, and research.  The DEVELOP Oil Spill Outreach team 
consisted of students from DEVELOP’s offices at Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi, the Mobile 
County Health Department (MCHD) in Alabama, and Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Virginia.   
 
The team’s first objective was to add value to some of NASA’s existing online satellite data by making it 
easier for the public to interpret and understand.  They accomplished this goal during the summer by 
creating visually appealing, simple animations of imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging 
Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor onboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites and from the Cloud-
Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument onboard NASA’s CALIPSO satellite.  
Using select daily MODIS imagery from Goddard Space Flight Center’s (GSFC) MODIS Rapid 
Response System, the students created a time-series animation showing how the surface oil slick changed 
shape and location throughout the summer.  By modifying geographic information system (GIS) shapefile 
data acquired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the students created 
cartographic contours that more clearly depicted the distance of the oil slick from well-known coastal 
cities that improved previous visualizations.  Combined with animated images these contour lines can 
help the general public can more easily interpret how the oil slick was moving (Figure 1).  Similarly, the 
students produced a virtual video that takes viewers on a flying 3D tour of CALIOP’s atmospheric aerosol 
data over the Gulf of Mexico.  Enhanced with background imagery from MODIS and even a 3D model of 
the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform, the visualization helps users better understand how CALIOP 
aerosol data can be used to study potential air pollutants related to the oil spill (Figure2).  These data 
visualizations can be accessed at the DEVELOP website develop.larc.nasa.gov.  
 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=20100042258 2019-08-30T13:50:55+00:00Z
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In addition to creating satellite data animations, the students also contributed to a “one-pager” fact sheet 
that the NASA Langley Public Outreach Office published highlighting NASA’s oil spill imagery and 
research activities.  Moreover, the DEVELOP team created a conference poster and presentation 
summarizing NASA’s oil spill data products and some of the fascinating research being conducted using 
the data.  Finally, the students drafted a public information sheet with lists of websites for oil spill 
information and data.  Equipped with these outreach tools and science data visualizations, the team set out 
on a public awareness tour in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida to educate Gulf Coast 
residents on ways that NASA science is making positive contributions to local communities. 
 
Before reaching out to the general public, the team focused on informing scientific/technical staff from 
regional academic, government, and private-sector organizations about ways that NASA remote sensing 
data could enhance their oil spill response activities.  To accomplish this goal, the students attended the 
Governor’s Action Plan Implementation Workshop in Biloxi, Mississippi, organized by the Gulf of 
Mexico Alliance (GOMA) in early August.  Consisting of membership from thirteen federal agencies, all 
five Gulf States, and four regional research organizations, GOMA exists to promote both the economic 
and ecologic well-being of the Gulf of Mexico and its surrounding states / countries.  With representatives 
from each of GOMA’s member states, agencies, and organizations present, the Governor’s Action Plan 
Implementation Workshop provided DEVELOP a platform for interacting with key stakeholders in the 
Gulf of Mexico region.  The students set up an information booth, presented a NASA oil spill poster, 
distributed NASA oil spill fact sheets, and answered attendees’ questions regarding ways that NASA’s 
remote sensing data products can benefit their organizations (Figure 3).  After the workshop, DEVELOP 
received requests from conference attendees for further information and data.  The students were able to 
direct them to appropriate NASA officials for answering their questions in detail and supplying them with 
data. 
 
After attending the GOMA workshop, the DEVELOP team began their NASA oil spill “public 
campaign,” giving presentations at the University of New Orleans, the University of Southern 
Mississippi, the University of South Alabama, and the University of West Florida.  They also presented at 
other venues including the Lions Club in Mobile, Alabama; the Mississippi Association for Spatial 
Technologies in Gulfport, Mississippi; and the Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla in Pass Christian, 
Mississippi.  At each venue, the team presented an overview of the NASA data collected over the 
Deepwater Horizon oil spill and highlighted many of the ongoing scientific research projects that are 
benefitting from the datasets.   
 
Examples of NASA Data Products and Research that DEVELOP Publicized 
In response to the oil spill, NASA acquired imagery and data from numerous spaceborne and airborne 
sensors.  Besides the MODIS and CALIOP data already mentioned, NASA also captured imagery from 
space using the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal 
Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), the Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper 
Plus (ETM+), Jason-1, and the Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM) / Jason-2.  NASA also 
deployed several of its aircraft to collect data using the High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL), the 
Airborne Visible / Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), and the Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle 
Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR).  See Figures 4, 5, 6, and 7, as well as Table 1 for examples of 
these sensors and their applications. 
 
The data that NASA collected are useful for many oil spill applications.  For example, NOAA image 
analysts used MODIS imagery when creating their daily oil slick location maps (Figure 7).  Scientists at 
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) experimented with radar data from UAVSAR to examine the 
impacts of beached oil on coastal wetlands, and researchers at LaRC tested the application of HSRL data 
for detecting sub-surface oil.  Additionally, faculty from the University of California at Santa Barbara and 
the University of California at Davis worked with NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) using 
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AVIRIS imagery to map the thickness of the surface oil slick, characterize the vegetation species of 
Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, and analyze the impacts of washed up oil on those coastal wetlands.  These 
are only a few examples of work being done with NASA data.  Several other research projects utilizing 
the data have also been completed or are currently in progress. 
 
The Community Benefits from DEVELOP’s Public Awareness Efforts 
The DEVELOP team strove to dispel the notion that NASA focuses only on space and aeronautics 
research.  Through their outreach, the students helped increase awareness among Gulf Coast citizens 
about NASA’s extensive involvement with Earth science and the relevance of NASA science missions to 
their local communities.  The team also informed their audiences about how other agencies and 
universities are benefitting from NASA’s oil spill remote sensing data.  For example, the students 
presented about how NOAA, the USGS, and several universities across the U.S. are conducting oil spill 
research using NASA remote sensing data products.  Communities benefitted from DEVELOP’s outreach 
tour because the public gained a better understanding NASA’s Earth Science mission and the impacts that 
NASA research activities have on their local communities. 
 
DEVELOP Conducts Scientific Research Regarding Oil Spill Impacts to Gulf of Mexico Region 
While DEVELOP’s initial contribution to NASA’s oil spill response was forming a public outreach team, 
DEVELOP did not stop there.  Several of the program’s national teams also investigated opportunities for 
conducting their own scientific and technical research related to oil spill’s impact on the Gulf of Mexico 
environment.  The teams proposed multiple student projects to NASA’s Applied Sciences Program 
focusing on a variety of topics.  These included potential impacts of the oil spill on air quality and public 
health, fish populations, and barrier island ecosystems.  DEVELOP received approval for five of these 
projects in Summer 2010 and conducted their research during the Fall 2010 DEVELOP project term. 
Each of the student teams presented their results to partnering organizations as well as at NASA 
Headquarters.  Additionally, many of the students will go on to present their work at other scientific and 
policy conferences and meetings nationwide. 
 
Stennis Space Center DEVELOP Project 
This project explored the applicability of using the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and 
Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) onboard NASA’s Aura mission and the MODIS sensor 
onboard NASA’s Terra and Aqua missions, to measure the concentration of atmospheric pollutants such 
as tropospheric ozone and particulate matter levels along the Gulf Coast in relation to the Deepwater 
Horizon oil spill.  The team utilized the sulfur dioxide and formaldehyde data products from OMI in 
conjunction with the ozone and carbon monoxide products from TES, as well as the MODIS aerosol 
optical depth (AOD), ozone, and particulate matter data products.  This project partnered with the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 6 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Air Committee in order 
to provide a methodology for enhanced air quality monitoring over large geographic areas where no in 
situ sampling data may be available if another oil spill occurs.   
 
Mobile County Health Department DEVELOP Project 
The Mobile DEVELOP team focused two projects on oil spill-related topics in the fall of 2010.  The first 
investigated the use of NASA remote sensing products for monitoring anthropogenic sand dune 
movement on Dauphin Island, Alabama.  Sand was brought in as part of the oil prevention effort, but the 
impact on the island’s ecosystems was unclear.  The student team’s research assessed the impact of the oil 
prevention project on the island, and provided the partners (Dauphin Island Park and Beach Board and 
Dauphin Island Sea Lab) with methodologies to use NASA Earth Observing Systems (EOS) to assist in 
future land management and decision-making.  The second project focused on the creation of an 
inventory and database of NASA remote sensing data products relating to the oil spill for future reference 
in regards to potential oil spills worldwide.  They also collected public health records for correlation with 
the air quality measurements the SSC and LaRC air quality projects tracked. 
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Langley Research Center DEVELOP Project 
In combination with the Stennis Gulf Air Quality project, the Langley DEVELOP team investigated the 
use of CALIPSO’s Level 2 Version 3.01 Aerosol Extinction data to measure air quality in the oil spill 
area.  The HYSPLIT model was used to track smoke plume trajectories and their distance to populated 
areas in the Gulf Coast. The goal of the project was to assist the EPA Region 6 with enhanced aerosol 
monitoring capabilities where no in situ datasets were available and assist in the improved regulation of 
oil spill burning in future spills. 
 
Jet Propulsion Laboratory DEVELOP Project  
The JPL DEVELOP fall project focused on the demonstration of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data to 
detect oil floating on the surface of water and improve understanding of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill 
impact on the Bluefin Tuna breeding habitat.  The team partnered with NOAA and Roffer’s Ocean 
Fishing Forecasting Service, who are researching remote sensing capabilities of assessing populations of 
Bluefin Tuna and reducing variance in spawning stock abundance in the Gulf of Mexico.  This study 
assessed SAR contributions to decision support efforts relevant to commercial fisheries through the 
improvement of the understanding of environmental conditions that affect the Bluefin Tuna. 
 
Conclusion 
In the summer and fall of 2010, several DEVELOP teams worked to increase understanding of how 
NASA satellite data help mitigate effects of one of the worst oil spill disasters in history.  These teams 
worked to make NASA satellite data from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill more accessible to the general 
public through the use of animated satellite imagery and one page fact sheets.  They also reached out to 
the science and technical communities to investigate the feasibility of using NASA satellites to enhance 
oil spill response activities.  To examine the feasibility of using these sensors in oil spill response / 
recovery efforts, different DEVELOP teams focused on various aspects of the oil spill including water 
and air quality, Bluefin tuna habitats, and public health records.  DEVELOP will continue to work on 
understanding the impact that this oil spill has on the natural environment including wetlands, national 
reserves, and endangered species population through the use of NASA EOS.   
 
DEVELOP Plans Future Oil Spill Related Research 
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill allowed approximately 185 million gallons according to Science 
Magazine of crude oil to flow into the Gulf of Mexico over an extended period of time, the full impact of 
which is yet to be seen.  The spill caused extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats, and even the 
repercussions of protection schemes of containment and dispersants are not clearly understood.  
DEVELOP teams are continuing research in the Gulf of Mexico to improve understanding of the impact 
to wetlands, marshes, national reserves, and endangered species populations.  DEVELOP teams continue 
to explore how NASA’s Earth observations can assist in the decision making process and policy relating 
to future oil spills.  The results of these future DEVELOP projects and others will be presented at local, 
state, and regional scientific and policy-oriented conferences in the upcoming months. 
 
  
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Figure 1 – Terra MODIS Image of Deepwater Horizon Oil Slick in the Gulf of Mexico on May 17, 2010.  
Image Credit:  NASA/GSFC, MODIS Rapid Response.  Cartography Credit:  NASA DEVELOP. 
 
 
Figure 2 –Still Frame from DEVELOP’s CALIPSO CALIOP Visualization.  CALIOP Data Tracks are 
Overlaid on a Background MODIS Image. 
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Figure 3:  Josh Stodghill (Left) and Jamie Favors (Right) Represent DEVELOP at the Gulf of Mexico 
Alliance Governor’s Action Plan Implementation Workshop in Biloxi, Mississippi, August 3, 2010.  
Photo Credit:  Jason Jones, NASA DEVELOP National Program. 
 
 
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Figure 4:  ASTER Image Showing Oil Slick Approaching the Mississippi River Delta in Southeastern 
Louisiana on May 24, 2010.  Oil Appears as White Sheen.  Image Credit:  NASA.  Annotation by NASA 
DEVELOP. 
 
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Figure 5:  NASA’s Earth Resources-2 (ER-2) Aircraft Carrying the AVIRIS Sensor.  Image Credit:  
NASA. 
 
 
 
Figure 6:  NASA’s Gulfstream G-III Aircraft with UAVSAR Mounted Underneath.  Image Credit:  
NASA.  
 
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Figure 7:  Example of a NOAA Oil Spill Map Generated from MODIS and Other Sensor Data.  Image 
Credit:  NOAA. 
  
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NASA Airborne Sensors:   
Sensor Applications User 
High Spectral 
Resolution Lidar 
Tracking Air Pollution, Detecting Sub-
surface Oil, and Studying Phytoplankton  NASA 
Airborne Visible / 
Infrared Imaging 
Spectrometer 
Analyzing Surface Oil Thickness, Mapping 
Marsh Grass Species, and Assessing Coastal 
Wetlands Health 
NASA, U.S. Geological 
Survey, University of 
California Santa Barbara, and 
the University of California 
Davis 
Uninhabited Aerial 
Vehicle Synthetic 
Aperture Radar 
Evaluating Oil Impacts on Coastal Marshes NASA 
      
NASA Spaceborne Sensors:   
Sensor Applications   
Moderate Resolution 
Imaging 
Spectroradiometer  
Tracking Surface Oil Location / Movement, 
Monitoring Wetlands Health, Studying 
Harmful Algal Blooms, etc. 
NASA, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, 
and the Navy Research 
Laboratory 
Cloud-Aerosol Lidar 
with Orthogonal 
Polarization 
Studying Air Quality and Detecting Surface 
Oil 
NASA and the Navy 
Research Laboratory 
Multi-angle Imaging 
SpectroRadiometer Delineating Surface Oil Slick NASA 
Advanced Spaceborne 
Thermal Emission and 
Reflection Radiometer 
Tracking Surface Oil and Monitoring Coastal 
Wetlands Health NASA 
Thematic Mapper / 
Enhanced Thematic 
Mapper Plus 
Tracking Surface Oil and Monitoring Coastal 
Wetlands Health 
NASA and the U.S. 
Geological Survey 
Advanced Land Imager Tracking Surface Oil and Monitoring Coastal Wetlands Health NASA 
Jason-1 Measuring Sea Surface Height and Studying Ocean Currents 
NASA and the University of 
Colorado 
Ocean Surface 
Topography Mission / 
Jason-2 
Measuring Sea Surface Height and Studying 
Ocean Currents 
NASA and the University of 
Colorado 
International Space 
Station Photographs Delineating Surface Oil Slick NASA 
 
Table 1:  NASA Sensor Coastal Application Summary.  This table provides an overview of many of the 
primary oil spill sensors, applications, and users; however, it may not accurately portray all oil spill 
remote sensing data or research activities. 


NASA DEVELOP Students Rev Up Response to Gulf Oil Spill

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