By land, sea, and air: Assessing ecosystem impacts from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill with field surveys and hyperspectral remote sensing

The physical and chemical effects of oil spills can have both short- and long-term impacts on wetland function, including the interruption of benthic biogeochemical processes, decreased primary production, and increased susceptibility to marsh collapse.  More than 500 km of Louisiana’s marsh shoreline were contaminated from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  In this talk, I will present data collected during field surveys and airborne hyperspectral surveys, conducted as part of the Federal emergency response, that were used to assess the rate of oil flowing from the well and are being used to evaluate the impact of oil contamination in marshland ecosystems.