The federal government and media is reporting that the BP gulf oil spill has disappeared but satellite photos show a slick covering over 12,000 square miles of the Gulf.
According to John Amos over at Sky Truth all of that oil that magically disappeared isn’t going away just yet.
Yesterday’s MODIS and RADARSAT images show something we didn’t expect: slicks and sheen spanning nearly 12,000 square miles. Based on other reports, and the recent trend on satellite images indicating steady dissipation of the surface oil slick, we are optimistically assuming that nearly all of this is very thin sheen.
I tend to agree with the speculation about Bonnie dispersing the oil beneath the surface and now that the waters have calmed, the oil is resurfacing.
I actually see the phenomenon with the oil in the bay around my house.
When the wind is blowing or if there is even a slow current from the tide I can’t see any oil in the water.
Speculation: winds from Bonnie obliterated most of the thin sheen throughout the area; but since then, sheen has had time to “reassemble” into observable layers that noticeably affect the sunglint on MODIS images, and the backscatter on radar, but may not look like much to folks out in the Gulf on vessels or in low-flying aircraft. That’s our theory at this point. Chime in if you have other thoughts about what we’re seeing on these images:
Much more on link:
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/07/31/feds-cant-find-oil-but-satellite-photos-show-bp-gulf-oil-spill-covering-12000-square-miles/
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