Northwest of Bergen (Norway)

North Sea July '96

Another example of a successful application of the spaceborne SAR from the European Space Agency's ERS programme. The scene has been acquired from ERS-2 on 18 July 1996, at 11:04:02 UTC by Fucino, but also by Tromsų Satellite Station (TSS). The Earth-watching team has discovered during a data screening some oil slicks in this image and have asked the expert operators of TSS for an interpretation. The overall low gray-level in the scene suggests that there is little wind in the area. It might range from about 1m/s to 7m/s. These are ideal conditions for detecting any type of oil films.

Some oil slicks

In the North Sea, northwest of Bergen, Norway, there are two possible oil slicks of mean sizes 12 x 5 km and 14 x 3 km. Both slicks are diffuse and it looks as if the wind has worked on them. They are probably several hours old. Due to the optimal conditions to detect surface dumping features, slicks in connection with almost every oil platform (very bright points) in the image can be observed. These slicks may be caused by water disposals, drilling fluids, or oil. The almost completely black area at Northeast of the image is due to low wind conditions.

Operators at the TSS  routinely analyse all SAR data received at the station. If an oil slick is discovered, as in this case, a communication is sent to the Norwegian pollution control authority (SFT) by phone and fax. The surveillance aircraft of SFT often operates in vicinity of the satellite acquisitions, and a direct link between the operators of TSS and the pilots has been established.

• Satellite: ERS-2
• Sensor: SAR
• Acq. Date: 18 July 1996
• Size: 41 x 28 km
• Acq. by: Fucino (I)

Tromsų Satellite Station offers more images of oil spill detection.

Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry