Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: Loop Current and the Gulf Stream

This Envisat image shows the Straits of Florida, the area where the Loop Current flows eastward out of the Gulf of Mexico (visible west of Florida) before joining the Gulf Stream and flowing along the eastern coastlines of the US and Newfoundland.

This image was acquired by Envisat’s Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) on 1 April 2010 at a resolution of 300 m.

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Credits: ESA

ESA Envisat monitors Gulf oil spill proximity to Loop Current

As fears grow that the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico could soon catch the oil slick and drag it south towards coral reefs in the Florida Keys, scientists are monitoring the situation closely with ESA’s Envisat radar data.

By combining surface roughness and current flow information with Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) data of the spill, SAR image analysts are able to detect the direction in which the spill boundaries can drift.

In these two ASAR images for 29 April and 2 May, advanced processing methods have been performed to display ocean surface roughness variations and Doppler-derived ocean surface radial velocities.

Merging this information provides insight into the spatial structure of the spill and its dispersion by the upper ocean turbulent flow.

Overview of the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico and its extension on the US East Coast called the Gulf Stream. Radial velocities (east-west component of velocity) are estimated from Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) on this one-year composite.

The main path of the Loop Current and the Gulf Stream is highlighted by the red trajectory.

Go to ESA Envisat site for more info