Copernicus Summer Series - Oil Spill in the Mediterranean

Copernicus Summer Series - Oil Spill in the Mediterranean [Aug/2024]

Benefits of Copernicus data helping Mediterranean countries improve their knowledge of oil spills occurring in their waters

Earth Observation (EO) data carry a wealth of information that can contribute to interpreting geophysical phenomenon. Raw data once transformed into information can support agents solving problems by supplying actionable intelligence that reduces the uncertainty of a decision.

The Sentinel-1 mission, which is part of Europe’s flagship EO programme Copernicus, comprises a constellation of two sun-synchronous polar-orbiting satellites. These satellites operate day and night, performing C-band synthetic aperture radar imaging, enabling them to acquire imagery regardless of the weather. Sentinel-1 measurements can be used for various applications, including global land masses monitoring, sea-ice monitoring, ocean and marine monitoring, and emergency response.

An analysis by the European Association of Remote Sensing Companies (EARSC) was conducted to assess the value of the CleanSeaNet (CSN) service, operated by the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), which utilises Sentinel-1 data to help Mediterranean countries and their national marine safety agencies improve their knowledge of oil spills occurring in their waters and mitigate their impact when they occur.

This is particularly important as the Mediterranean Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes in the world. Accidents are rare, but ships captains save time and money by illegally washing their tanks whilst sailing. The consequent pollution causes considerable environmental damage to the marine ecosystem and leaves traces of oil on beaches. Against this background, EMSA uses the CSN service to identify potential oil slicks and possible polluters, and in a matter of minutes, transfer this information to the national authorities.

The report finds that the use of the Sentinel data results in economic value of between €41.7 million and €81.1 million per annum, mainly due to reduced data acquisition costs for EMSA as it uses satellite instead of aircraft data, and operational cost savings for national agencies due to less aircraft use.

Furthermore, the utilisation of the Sentinel-enabled service results in non-economic value in the form of:

  • Environmental benefits (reduced oil entering and damaging the environment due to improved cleanup of oil spills and through deterrence of illegal actions)
  • Regulatory benefits (improved knowledge of compliance with existing legislation and better enforcement of legislation due to rapid surveillance and detection of illegal actions)
  • Societal benefits (reduced pollution impact on tourism, associated businesses and local fishermen).

The full report can be accessed in the restricted area (please log in before).


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