ENVISYS

The Mediterranean is an area with extensive human activity. It represents important food resources and is at the same time used for cheap waste disposal. Lately, the environmental consciousness in the area has grown largely. Knowing that nature takes 90 years to exchange the entire water body, the ocean can be considered as an almost closed system.

We have only recently become aware of the huge amounts of oil being discharged in the Mediterranean and in other ocean areas. More than 600 000 tonnes of oil are discharged annually. This corresponds to ten times the Exxon Valdez accident. Only a limited amount of the oil spilled annually comes from large accidents like the Exxon Valdez or the Sea Empress accidents. The main amount of oil comes from intentional spills from ships washing their oil tanks after delivering their cargo, often at night.

Radar satellites can detect these spills. The oil dampens the small capillary waves on the ocean surface and changes the radar signature accordingly. NR has been working with automatic methods for oil spill detection in radar images for seven years. The activity in the Mediterranean was organised through the ENVISYS project, which was a European Union project under the Telematics Programme. Industry companies and universities from Norway, Spain and Greece participated in the project, which was managed by NR. The project has developed an extensive software toolbox for detection, verification, assessment of the potential damages, and clean-up management. The satellite images are analysed automatically - untouched by hands - to the point when a possible oil spill alarm occurs. The operator will then use the system to verify that the alarm represents a true oil spill. The verification can also be done using an aircraft. The next step is to assess the potential damages. Does the spill represent a threat to fishery zones or recreational areas? If the situation is serious, a clean-up operation, which can be managed from the system, is started.

For more information contact: Rune Solberg

Back to Section for Earth Observation