THEMATIC ISSUE Oil pollution detection using spectral fluorescent signatures (SFS) M a Del Carmen Martı ´n • Nina V. Yarovenko • Carmen P. Go ´mez • Jose ´ Luis Legido Soto • Jesu ´s M. Torres Palenzuela Received: 31 October 2013 / Accepted: 13 June 2014 / Published online: 10 July 2014 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014 Abstract Marine oil spills can be highly dangerous given that the wind, waves and currents can scatter an oil spill over a wide area within just a few hours in the open sea. Remote sensing can effectively be used for detecting and monitoring of oil spills. Optical sensors provide important information for oil spill contingency planning. Remote sensing techniques have contributed a great extent to the development of oil pollution monitoring systems. How- ever, the available detection methods, mainly designed for spaceborne and airborne long-distance inspection, are too expensive and complex to be used in an operational way by relatively unskilled personnel. In the framework of DEO- SOM project (European AMPERA project), an innovative water inspection method was investigated, based on the analysis of suspicious water samples in laboratory using the spectral fluorescent signature (SFS) technique. The SFS technique is based on the fluorescence properties of the oil compounds. Different oil products were analyzed in the laboratory, using eight LED light sources with wavelengths ranging from 270 to 850 nm to excite the samples and a USB4000-FL fluorescence spectrometer to register the fluorescence spectra. Finally, an algorithm to identify oil products in polluted water samples with known substances was developed. The mean of the 16 replicas was calculated for each point and used to calculate the Euclidean distance with respect to a known sample constituted by distilled water and single oil. Finally, the percentage of similarity referred to every oil was determined. Keywords Oil pollution Á Spectral fluorescent signatures (SFS) Á Neural network Á LED Introduction Oil spills are a serious environmental problem as they can cause damages to the marine ecosystem and whose effects can continue for long periods of time. Oil tanker and oil platform accidents, which generate a big social concern, are only the smaller part of the problem. The quantities of deliberate oil spills coming from ships during cleaning procedures constitute a bigger menace for the marine envi- ronment. It has produced a generation of contingency plan- ning for fast and effective response to oil pollution and development of a strict control action to maintain an envi- ronmental natural health (Fingas 2001; Gru ¨ner et al. 1991). Goodman (1994) in his work notes that the operational use of remote sensing for oil spill detection is limited although simple systems, such as UV/IR sensors and radar, have been widely used for oil spill response. A better understanding of the oil spill surveillance sensor characteristics could help to improve the effectiveness and operational use of these sen- sors for oil spill response and contingency planning. Fluo- rescent techniques can detect oil under the water surface and on various backgrounds, including snow and ice (Brown and Fingas 2005). The operational use of laser fluorosensors is expected to increase with time since it is the most useful instrument for oil spill detection (Jha et al. 2008). Remote sensing techniques have contributed to a great extent to the development of oil pollution monitoring systems. However, the available detection methods, mainly M. D. C. Martı ´n Á N. V. Yarovenko Á C. P. Go ´mez (&) Á J. L. Legido Soto Á J. M. Torres Palenzuela Department of Applied Physics, University of Vigo, Lagoas-Marcosende, 36310 Vigo, Spain e-mail: carmengomez@uvigo.es J. M. Torres Palenzuela e-mail: jesu@uvigo.es 123 Environ Earth Sci (2015) 73:2909–2915 DOI 10.1007/s12665-014-3457-5