No abstract

In recent decades, industrial activity in the marine environment has dramatically increased. Dense offshore infrastructure combined with an increase in shipping activity creates a complex blend of potential oil pollution and environmental risk. Over the last year, CGG Satellite Mapping, supported by the European Space Agency's business applications, Oil Spill Response Limited and key oil and gas companies, created and managed a SeaScope monitoring demonstration service. SeaScope confirms the presence or absence of slicks around infrastructure; reports on the integrity of operations based on slicks observed; identifies the potential origins of pollution slicks or permitted discharge; and has the ability to distinguish between pollution and natural seepage by using routine satellite monitoring. This paper describes how advances in Earth observation radar combined with AIS (Automatic Identification System), metocean data and experts trained in the interpretation of offshore satellite imagery, can be used to regularly monitor sea surface oil slicks and notify offshore operators of anomalous events within the vicinity of offshore infrastructure and high density shipping areas.