TELEDETECTION OF THE THICKNESS OF OIL FILMS ON POLLUTED WATER BASED ON THE OIL FLUORESCENCE PROPERTIES

A method is described of determining the thickness of oil films on polluted water by remote sensing of oil fluorescence radiation. For this purpose the oil is excited at two wavelengths, one in the UV (337 nm) and one in the red (633 nm), while a third intermediate excitation wavelength (490 nm) can be used to extend the measuring range. With this set of excitation wavelengths, measuring ranges of several tens to hundreds of micrometers are demonstrated in the laboratory for thirty-two different crude and heavy fuel oils. © 1979 Optical Society of America.