Use of remote sensing to document changes in marsh vegetation following the Amoco Cadiz oil spill (Brittany, France, 1978)

Image analysis of historical aerial photographs was used to examine the effects of the Amoco Cadiz oil spill and resulting clean-up on marsh ecology. Two heavily oiled marsh systems were compared. The marsh which received no clean-up recovered to its prior condition. The marshes in the system cleaned by sediment removal were extensively altered as a result of changes in intertidal height of the sediment surface.