Surface hydrocarbon detection is of interest both for environment monitoring as well as for exploration purposes. For an oil and gas company, being able to detect early the presence of surface hydrocarbon in the exploration process is an important information that will derisk the presence of a source rock and its maturity. These, alone, will not guaranty the success of exploration, which also requires a reservoir, a trap and a sealing cap rock, but they are some essential elements for the presence of an oil accumulation in the subsurface and for the success of subsequent exploration wells. Many papers have been published on surface hydrocarbon remote sensing direct detection; however, most are either for the offshore domain, or for onshore experimental experiments or environmental case studies. Why is onshore detection of naturally occurring hydrocarbons so difficult from remote sensing? In this paper we will explain why out of the lab onshore hydrocarbon detection is more difficult than offshore detection and how the spectral or spatial limited resolution of current satellite sensors are hampering this detection.

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D. Dubucq and A. Ebner, "Remote sensing onshore hydrocarbon direct detection for exploration: why is it different?," Proc. SPIE 11156, Earth Resources and Environmental Remote Sensing/GIS Applications X, 111560P (Presented at SPIE Remote Sensing: September 11, 2019; Published: 3 October 2019); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2533192.