An optical remote sensing model for estimating oil slick thickness based on two-beam interference theory.

Oil slick thickness was an important parameter for estimating oil spill volume. Two-beam interference theory could be used to interpret the behavior of reflected and refracted light in oil slick. A quantitative relationship between thickness and spectral reflectance of oil slick could be established based on this theory. Some parameters have the properties of numerical oscillation and can be ignored in practical application. In addition, numerical approximation results showed that two parameters of the relationship were closely related to the spectral reflectance of background water and the thick oil slick. Therefore, a practical model for estimating oil slick thickness could be derived and proved to be consisted with theoretical relationship.