Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 2.
First satellite image interpretation produced at the JRC for the Prestige ac-
cident
The Prestige Tanker accident has been characterised by a number of pe-
culiar aspects, most of them previously not encountered or even unknown.
They basically concern the type of discharged oil, the amount of dis-
charged oil, the extent of the affected area, the time period of persistence
of oil at sea, as well as the mutual interactions between them.
Such a complex context has to be taken into account when drawing the
conclusions on the use of satellite SAR images in support to the emer-
gency phase. In addition we want to distinguish the technical/scientific as-
pects from the operational one.
Concerning the first aspect the following general comments can be
made:
Satellite observations provided useful information due to their capability
to cover large and remote areas;
no information has been provided in some cases due to the well known
limitations of the sensor (i.e., unfavourable sea conditions);
positive and/or negative identification of pollution not confirmed by
other observations.
The last point has many different explanations such as the misinter-
pretation due to complex situations, the lack of knowledge of the charac-
