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New Technology Clearly Shows Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on Coastal Marshes
TTI Exploration, a privately held geosciences technology company based in Houston, has announced that it has successfully completed preliminary processing and analysis related to a subset of its Operation GulfSCAN NRM™ data set. Between May 1st and July 30th 2010, the survey acquired ultra high-resolution data over approximately 29,000 square kilometers of very sensitive marsh areas of the Gulf Coast, including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. New time-lapse images, produced from data collected by high-tech airborne sensors and TTI’s scientific team on the ground, show the condition of the habitat. The data measures the habitat before the oil and dispersant washed ashore several months ago compared with recent images collected after it has been exposed to the contaminants over an extended period of time.
“Even where oil is not visible, our technology can show where plant life has been affected by the recent oil spill. Indeed, much of the spill’s impact may not be visible to the naked eye.”
Dr. Alfredo Prelat, TTI’s chief scientist, said, “Even where oil is not visible, our technology can show where plant life has been affected by the recent oil spill. Indeed, much of the spill’s impact may not be visible to the naked eye.” Images of the area studied are available on TTI’s website at (http://www.ttiexploration.com/gulfscan/time-lapse).
The imaging data for this time-lapse subset was initially acquired on May 21, 2010 and then re-flown on July 17, 2010 and shows the change in the habitat after approximately 2 months. TTI plans to fly additional time-lapse surveys chronicling the evolving health of the Gulf Coast’s ecosystems.
Jim Hollis, President and CEO of TTI Exploration, commented, "An objective, scientific analysis of 'Before' and 'After' NRM data can confirm the true health of the Gulf Coast’s ecosystems. Over the long-term, we expect to acquire additional data over those areas most affected by the oil spill and provide an accurate assessment of the ultimate impact on the habitat.”
Dr. John Day, an environmental scientist with Louisiana State University and a consultant to TTI said, "It is clearly premature to come to any conclusions about the long-term impact of the oil spill. Even if marsh grass is observed re-growing, it is clearly less than it would have been. To determine the full effects of the spill, more studies and measurements of vegetation health will be needed, including photosynthesis measurements, changes in above and below ground biomass and decomposition through the next growing season.”
Hollis added, "We will be working closely with Dr. Day to integrate his field sampling efforts into our NRM data set for Operation GulfSCAN in order to establish the most comprehensive, large-scale environmental assessment along the Gulf Coast. We believe the Operation GulfSCAN data set is the objective gold standard for measuring the impact this oil spill is having on the habitat.” www.ttiexploration.com
