Wide, Standard and Fine beam mode products provide better resolution for detecting spill size and extent. The better resolution may help in reducing false positive identification of spill locations. It has been demonstrated that any of the beam modes can detect the presence of oil on the water surface. Look direction is not a critical factor for oil spill detection but using data from both look directions can significantly increase the revisit time for spill monitoring purposes. A critical factor affecting the success of detecting an oil spill is wind speed.
Oil is detected on radar imagery because the oil dampens the capillary waves of the ocean surface.
Very low wind speeds do not allow for sufficient contrast between ocean and oil-dampened waves. The contrast is also insufficient when wind speeds are high, which create wave action on both oil and non-oil ocean surfaces.