SATELLITE MONITORING OF OIL POLLUTION IN THE EUROPEAN SEAS

Ships and industries damage the delicate coastal ecosystem in many parts of the world by releasing oil or pollutants into rivers, coastal and offshore waters. After a tanker accident the biggest problem is to get a clear idea of the extent of the oil slick and predict the way it will move. For natural and man-made oil spills it is necessary to operate a regular and operational monitoring. In the Mediterranean, North and Baltic seas aircrafts or ships normally carry it out. This is expensive and is constrained by the limited availability of these resources, borders between countries, daylight hours, good weather conditions, etc. Satellite imagery can help greatly identifying probable spills over large areas and then guiding aerial surveys for precise observation of specific locations. The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument, which can collect data almost independently of weather and light conditions, is an excellent tool to monitor and detect oil on water surfaces. SAR is currently on board the ENVISAT, ERS-2 and RADARSAT satellites. The application of this technology to the investigation of oil pollution in the Caspian, Black, Mediterranean, North and Baltic seas is shown.