Large-scale detection and categorization of oil spills from SAR images with deep learning

Abstract: We propose a deep learning framework to detect and categorize oil spills in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images at a large scale. By means of a carefully designed neural network model for image segmentation trained on an extensive dataset, we are able to obtain state-of-the-art performance in oil spill detection, achieving results that are comparable to results produced by human operators. We also introduce a classification task, which is novel in the context of oil spill detection in SAR. Specifically, after being detected, each oil spill is also classified according to different categories pertaining to its shape and texture characteristics. The classification results provide valuable insights for improving the design of oil spill services by world-leading providers. As the last contribution, we present our operational pipeline and a visualization tool for large-scale data, which allows to detect and analyze the historical presence of oil spills worldwide.