Wales, UK - On 15 February 1996 the oil tanker Sea Empress struck a rock off St.Anne's Head near the town of Milford Haven. 80,000 tonnes of crude oil were released during the 10 days that elapsed before the emergency team could stem the flow. Strong winds pushed the oil slick southwards into the Bristol Channel: the nature reserve of Lundy Island (lying 50 km to the South) was affected, killing birds, fish and sea mammals.
The first SAR satellite data available were from RADARSAT (on the 22nd), ERS-1 (on the 25th) and ERS-2 (on the 26th). Due to changing wind conditions these three images appear completely different, and the oil spill detection is very difficult.
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Event Timeline |
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Wales, UK |
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The smoothing effect of the oil on the sea surface causes a decrease in backscatter. Low to medium wind speed (from 3 to 10 m/sec) makes it possible to see the polluted areas as isolated black spots. |
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RADARSAT image |
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Technical Information |
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Satellite: |
RADARSAT |
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Instrument: |
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) |
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Date of Acquisition: |
22 February 1996 |
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Image area coverage: |
90 x 50km |
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Acquired by: |
Fucino (Italy) |
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ERS-1 image |
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The wind conditions during 25 February (ERS-1 acquisition) make it possible to detect a large dark area to the western side of the Carmarthen Bay due to low wind and, going southward and westward, other smaller slicks, which are probably oil slicks floating along the coast. |
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Technical Information |
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Satellite: |
ERS-1 & 2 |
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Instrument: |
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) |
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Date of Acquisition: |
25 February 1996 |
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Image area coverage: |
80 x 55km |
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Orbit: |
24137 |
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Frame: |
1035 |
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Acquired by: |
Fucino (Italy) |
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ERS-2 image |
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The big dark area in the right part of this ERS-2 image is caused by very low wind that makes it difficult to detect oil slicks within the bay. However, two oil slicks can be seen off the Cape of St. Govans (central part of the image) as strips almost parallel to the coastline. |
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Technical Information |
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Satellite: |
ERS-1 & 2 |
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Instrument: |
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) |
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Date of Acquisition: |
26 February 1996 |
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Image area coverage: |
80 x 55km |
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Orbit: |
4464 |
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Frame: |
1035 |
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Acquired by: |
Fucino (Italy) |
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Wales (UK), February 1996
