Smoke plumes from spill-response crews gathering and burning oil in the Gulf of Mexico near the site of the leaking Macondo well. Photo taken June 22, 2010. Photo courtesy Dr. Oscar Garcia / Florida State University. Some of the natural gas and oil is being siphoned from the leaking Macondo well on the seafloor, and flared off at the surface from the Q4000 semisubmersible. Photo taken June 22, 2010. Photo courtesy Dr. Oscar Garcia / Florida State University.

Dr. Oscar Garcia-Pineda of Florida State University has been out in the Gulf this week on the research vessel Brooks McCall. He’s collecting samples and observations of the BP oil slick, and will compare results with simultaneous acquisitions of aerial remote sensing overflights being conducted by NASA. We at SkyTruth are also collecting near-simultaneous satellite imagery to assist this effort. We hope to get a better understanding of how well aerial and satellite remote sensing are detecting oil at (or near) the surface. Oscar sent us a stunning series of photographs taken on June 22 near “Ground Zero” in the Gulf, the site of the leaking Macondo well, showing the cluster of response vessels there, and the collection and burning of oil. You can see them all in SkyTruth’s Deepwater Horizon Blowout gallery (look for the photos with “FSU Sampling Cruise” in the title).

BP / Gulf Oil Spill – FSU Research Cruise This Week