Satellite Mapping of Oil Spills in the Mediterranean Sea

Besides accidental pollution caused by ships in distress, different types of routine ship operations lead to deliberate discharges of oil in the sea. Illicit discharges are the greatest source of marine pollution from ships, and the one which poses an long-term threat to the marine and coastal environment. Reliable monitoring methodologies and continuously updated comprehensive information are key elements to create effective contingency planning. The present activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), in the field of monitoring sea-based oil pollution using space-borne radar imagery are described. A specific methodology for processing and interpreting a massive set of satellite images has been implemented. Such an approach allows to perform a systematic mapping of the possible illicit vessel discharges over all the European Seas. These maps and the associated statistics are repeated on an annual basis in order to assess its evolution. In particular the results obtained for the period 1999-2002 for the Mediterranean Sea are presented. This analysis is of special interest due to the lack of a regular aerial surveillance as that in the North and Baltic Sea. This action helped to reveal for the first time what is the dimension of the oil pollution problem, thus stressing the need for more concerted international actions.

TOPOUZELIS Konstantinos;  BERNARDINI Annalia;  FERRARO DI SILVI E CASTIGLIONE Guido;  MEYER-ROUX Serge;  TARCHI Dario; 

2006-10-24

PARLAR SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS (P S P)

JRC32076

https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC32076,