Oil spill detection

Satellite based Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) can provide large coverage of the Earth’s surface independent of weather and light conditions and has therefore become one of the most important sensors for operational monitoring of the marine environment.

KSAT has provided a service utilising satellite radar images for detection of oil spill since 1994, and has developed an oil detection service chain capable of providing information to European end users in near real time, i.e. less than one hour after satellite overpass.

The satellite based information is used in combination with other surveillance methods, e.g. dedicated aircraft equipped with radar (SLAR) and IR/UV scanner, and it helps optimise the use of coastguard vessels and surveillance aircrafts.

Near real time delivery of information is therefore crucial for these types of applications. Integration of other types of information such as ship identification from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) is important in order to quickly establish a better maritime picture in case of an illegal oil discharge.

The current service has been developed in close cooperation with key end users such as pollution control authorities in Northern Europe. The Oil spill detection service can be applied on a global scale.

Oil spill outside Brazil

• For more information see our oil spill detection movie (6,4 Mb).
• KSAT oil service - making sense of space (1 Mb)
• Oil Spill service description (Marcoast & EMSA service) (Pdf 1.5 Mb)