20 Years of SAR

Typhoon Durian (Philippines) - December 2006

It is estimated that a thousand people died in the Philippines when Typhoon Durian struck in November and December 2006. Tends of thousands of people were affected by the damage to houses and infrastructure as well as mudslides caused by heavy rain.

Philippines, August 2006

Sludge has washed up on Panay, a large island in the central Philippines, as an oil spill from a sunken tanker spread, threatening rich fishing grounds. Eleven days after the tanker chartered by Petron Corp., the largest oil refiner in the Philippines, sunk off the island of Guimaras, an average of 100-200 litres of oil continued to gush every hour.

Mount Merapi Volcano - Indonesia, June 2006

Merapi, (Island of Java), which is located near the ancient royal city of Yogyakarta (Indonesia), is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the Pacific “Ring of Fire”. It has threatened a major eruption over the weeks, forcing evacuations of 18,000 people from its slopes.

Brazil deforestation - August 2006

These two Envisat images examine an area of deforestation in the Mato Grosso region of Brazil, utilising multi-layer compositions to track changes over time.

Flood - Elbe River (Germany), April 2006

The water level of the Elbe River rose to 150-year records in April 2006, leading to flooding in the town of Hitzacker where the water level rose to almost 8 metres. Many buildings were destroyed and the inundation caused widespread damage.

B-15A iceberg monitoring - Antarctica (2004-2006)

This series of Envisat images monitor iceberg B-15A from November 2004 to February 2006. B-15A was a fragment of the largest iceberg in recorded history and broke apart during 2005.

Kiev, Ukraine - 2005

This ERS-2 image was acquired on 5 December 2005 over Kiev in Ukraine.

Hurricane Rita (Florida) - September 2005

120 people died in the United States of America in September 2005 when Hurricane Rita made landfall in the southeastern states. Severe damage from the winds and subsequent flooding affected thousands of people and destroyed several small communities.

Hurricane Katrina (Florida) - August 2005

Hurricane Katrina was one of the worst storms to strike the United States in recorded history when it made landfall in the Gulf coast in August 2005. 1833 people died and the city of New Orleans was particularly affected, with 80% of the city inundated leading to years of recovery.

Typhoon Talim (Central Pacific Ocean) - August 2005

It was estimated that over 15 million people were affected by Typhoon Matsa during August 2005 in Taiwan and China. 150 people were killed and thousands of homes destroyed by flooding and landslides.

Flood - Europe, August 2005

The state of Bavaria, in Germany, was one of the many places affected by the 2005 flooding in Europe. The River Danube burst its banks and caused widespread flooding in August.

Hurricane Emily (Mexico) - July 2005

Hurricane Emily caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and northeastern Mexico in July 2005. 17 people were killed and hundreds of homes were destroyed or damaged by the hurricane's powerful winds and storm surges. Thousands of people were affected.

Flood - China (Jiangxi), July 2005

A dike burst in the Fu River in Jiangxi Province, China, following heavy rain across ten Chinese provinces in June 2005. 35,000 people were evacuated in Jiangxi Province, and the widespread flooding in China claimed 200 lives.

Gotland Island (Sweden), May 2005

A 97-kilometer (60-mile) oil slick was observed off Sweden's south-eastern coast near the Baltic Sea island of Gotland. The approximately 25 tonnes of oil were however not expected to cause any major environmental damage as low winds and currents were predicted for the next two days.

ERS-2 - Ten years in orbit (1995-2005)

The ERS-2 satellite was launched on 21 April 1995, as a successor to the ERS-1 satellite. ERS-2 has now been successfully operational for ten years, and the following features highlight some of the applications the mission has been utilised for, as well as some technical details of the satellite.