THE ARGOMARINE PROJECT: A LOW COST PLATFORM TO INTEGRATE DATA AND THE EXPLORATORY USE OF NEW TOOLS IN MONITORING OIL SPILL

One of the key aim of ARGOMARINE focuses on the development of a platform to integrate different maritime data (such as metoceanographic data, transport data, pollution data, etc). Major national organizations such as Navies and Coast Guards are aiming to integrate different types of information to define a maritime picture on a wide scale. This entails developing complex, expensive and classified "hubs" to collect, store, analyze and disseminate the maritime data. ARGOMARINE plans to develop a Marine Information System (MIS), a connected group of ICT subsystems performing data storage, mining and analysis, decision-support, as well as a web-GIS portal for the access and usage of the products and services released to System Managers and end-users. MIS will integrate remote sensing data, field experiment results, forecast models with tools for data storage and retrieval, data manipulation, analysis and presentation; all these features will be accessible through a common interface. Operationally, the following sub-systems have been confirmed for the MIS platform: SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) image processing, hyperspectral-thermal image analysis, mathematical simulation for forecast models, dynamic risk maps management, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) management and data analysis, marine traffic monitoring through Automatic Identification System (AIS), Environmental Decision Support (EDS), and data mining/warehousing through operational and historical databases. Data integration of all data from these different systems is an innovative approach to maritime surveillance.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

Security and defence research in the European Union: a landscape review

This landscape report describes the state of play of the European Union’s policies and activities in security and defence and the EU-funded research aimed at supporting them, with an exclusive focus on intentional harm. It is organised around several thematic building blocks under the umbrella of the three core priorities defined in the European agenda on security. The report reviews the current main risks and threats but also those that may emerge within the next 5 years, the policy and operational means developed to combat them, the main active stakeholders and the EU legislation in force. In this context, a short history of EU research on security and defence is presented, followed by an inventory of relevant research and development projects funded under the Horizon 2020 framework programme during the period 2014-2018. The specific contributions of the Joint Research Centre to security research are also highlighted. Finally, future avenues for security and defence research and development are discussed. Please note that the executive summary of this landscape report has been published simultaneously as a companion document.JRC.E.7-Knowledge for Security and Migratio

Monitoring oil polluting vessels through the integration of satellite technology

The main hypothesis of this study has been to demonstrate how satellite images can improve the long term monitoring and the response to oil pollution from vessels, with particular attention to operational oil discharges. To tackle this hypothesis, it has been necessary to apply a holistic approach to the problem of monitoring sea-based oil pollution. In particular, legal, scientific (remote sensing) and operational aspects related to this issue have been analyzed. It was innovative in my dissertation to have an approach which covers different fields, which allows also considering a secondary hypothesis on how space technology can support the prosecution of polluters. The verification of the hypothesis can be cross-checked with the recent launch of the Clean Sea Net service where the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) provides analyzed satellite images to European Countries (EMSA Clean Sea Net website). Before tackling the main issues, a brief analysis on ¿what is oil pollution?¿ has been introduced. The international legislation in the field of monitoring and response to marine oil pollution has been then analyzed. The main texts presented are MARPOL 73/78 Convention and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). To complete the international framework, and with specific reference for European Countries, also the recent European legislation has been presented. Special attention has been given to the prosecution of polluting vessels. The main legal problem is the coordination and integration of the two principles on jurisdiction which co-exist: the nationality of the ship and the geographical position of the ship. The research in the following chapters has been mainly based on the use of satellite imagery. The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on board satellites can be used to detect oil films on sea surfaces. To provide a general overview on the long term monitoring of oil spills in the European seas, I collected all the available information on detected oil spills in the European Seas for the period 2000-2004. Oil spills were detected by aerial surveillance (in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea) and by satellite imagery (in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Black Sea). This collection of data, using an inductive method, allowed me to draw a general European picture of the problem of oil discharges from vessels. I have then tried to demonstrate how the use of satellite imagery from archives can be regarded as a key tool for measuring the state of European seas. Variations and trends can be considered essential for policy makers to assess the success of adopted legislation or to stimulate new actions to be taken. Having recognized the capacity and limits of the use of satellite imagery, I have introduced how images from space can be used operationally. The experience acquired during the project AESOP (AErial and Satellite surveillance of Operational Pollution in the Adriatic Sea) was presented. AESOP aimed to test in the Mediterranean basin the capability of providing satellite Near Real Time (NRT) information about marine oil pollution. Moreover the coupling of satellite imagery with the Automatic Information System (AIS) was also successfully performed. It must be underlined that the AESOP project in 2005 and 2006 was a vision of what after 2 years became an operational service. In fact, since April 2007, the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has launched the Clean Sea Net service which provides analyzed satellite images to European Countries. To summarize the contribution to science of the work of the author has been to demonstrate how satellite imagery can be used as a tool to long term monitor operational oil pollution from ships. As a second contribution, the work of the author has been to demonstrate how satellite imagery can be used as an operational tool in support of patrolling activities of maritime authorities.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

The European and International legal framework on monitoring and response to oil pollution from ships

Oil spills cause damage to the marine environment. Such oil spills originate from land-based or sea-based sources. Sea-based sources are discharges coming from ships or offshore platforms. The origin of the pollution can be accidental or deliberate (defined also as operational). The international legislation in the field of monitoring and response to marine oil pollution is mainly based on the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships, 1973, as amended by the Protocol of 1978 thereto (MARPOL 73/78) and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). To complete the international framework, and with specific reference for European Countries, also the recent European legislation is presented. Special attention is given to the prosecution of polluting vessels. The main legal problem is the coordination and integration of the two principles on jurisdiction which co-exist: the nationality of the ship and the geographical position of the ship.JRC.DG.G.4-Maritime affair

Oil Spills in the Adriatic Sea

Despite the northwest-southeast orientation of the Adriatic Sea, commercially it is virtually a north-south sea, as it penetrates deep into the European continent, nearly to the foot of the Alps. Large vessel traffic is dense, and accordingly there is a great deal of operational pollution along with the constant threat of accidents and incidents. Researchers have developed the means to detect much of the pollution in the Adriatic, to estimate its extent, and even the means, through satellite images and the process of backtracking, to identify polluters. These techniques promise that the increasing volume of traffic in the Adriatic may coincide with a reduction of pollution from commercial vessels. However, many other sources of oil pollution are of concern, including off shore industry, fishing, natural seeps, extraction of natural gases and oil from beneath the sea bed, and the corroding wrecks from as long as seventy years ago. There is also concern that legislation is not strict enough in the cases of platforms and chemical tankers. Further issues and complications derive from the nature of the sea, which is shallow, and is fed by a high number of streams and rivers. The Adriatic, as is actually the case for the entire Mediterranean, is classified as a Special Area (according to MARPOL Annex I), which limits the amount of legal discharging of oily wastes, for instance. In addition, since few years the possibility to extend to the Adriatic the status of Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) is under discussion. Yet the likelihood that traffic will increase and the causes of pollution detailed here will persist, suggests that the need for continued scientific intervention and further legislation will also increase if the Adriatic is to maintain a semblance of a healthy environment.JRC.E.6-Demography, Migration and Governanc

Geospatial Analysis Approaches to Improve the Oil Spill Detection in SAR Images

Reliable oil spill detections in satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery require the analysis of many different factors. In many cases the categorisation of the monitored area based on environmental ancillary information is essential for the definition of the reliability of oil spill detections in SAR imagery. This study introduces the advantages of using geospatial analysis of vessel traffic as a supplementary information source for the oil spill probability assessment in SAR imagery. Because of the leak of free accessible Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) data and their limited coverage the concept of this study is to analyse the International Comprehensive Ocean-Atmosphere Data Set (ICOADS) within a geographic information system (GIS) to identify the main shipping lanes, weight them by importance and categorise the observed area in low, medium and high probability for oil spill detections. Additionally port locations were also accounted for the analysis. The derived oil spill probability categorisation was finally applied to the Joint Research Centre (JRC)¿s Oil Spill Database for the Mediterranean Sea and the concentration of oil spill detections confirms the strong link with shipping lanes.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

Aerial and Satellite Surveillance of Operational Ship Pollution in the European Seas

An update of the activities of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), a Directorate General of the European Commission, in the field of long term monitoring sea-based oil pollution are described. The legal framework and the methodology used to process a massive set of data are briefly introduced. JRC has collected all available relevant data concerning sea-based oil pollution from different actors and archives. For the North and Baltic seas, data from aerial surveillance were used and, for this reason, all oil spills are real and confirmed. On the contrary, the data for the Mediterranean and the Black Sea derive from oil spills detected by JRC in archive satellite imagery. We believe that oil spills detected in satellite images are real, even if we will call them “possible oil spills” because they have not been confirmed by an aircraft and or a vessel. For the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, these data represent the only source to assess the problem of sea-based oil pollution in these seas. This paper intends to present a comprehensive view of the long term monitoring of sea-based oil pollution in all the seas around Europe.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

Confidence Levels in the Detection of Oil Spills from Satellite Imagery: From Research to Operational Use

Detected oil spills are usually classified according to confidence levels. Such levels are supposed to describe the probability that an observed dark feature in the satellite image is related to the actual presence of an oil spill. The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) derived oil spill detection probability estimation has been explored as an intrinsic aspect of oil spill classification, which fundamentally computes the likelihood that the detected dark area and its extracted features are related to oil spill. However, the SAR based probability estimation should be integrated with additional criteria in order to become a more effective tool for the End User. As example, the key information for the final users is not the confidence level of the detection “per se” but the alert (i.e. the impact) that such a detection could generate. This topic was deeply discussed in the framework of the R&D European Group of Experts on remote sensing Monitoring of marine Pollution (EGEMP) and a paper was published in 2010. Following this paper, the newly established EMSA CleanSeaNet service (2nd generation) provides the alert level connected to the detection of an potential oil spill in a satellite image in a different way.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

The Use of Ancillary Metocean Data for the Oil Spill Probability Assessment in SAR Images

Accidental pollution at sea can be reduced but never completely eliminated, on the other side, deliberate illegal discharges from ships can indeed be reduced by the strict enforcement of existing regulations and the control, monitoring and surveillance of maritime traffic. Anyhow, operational oil discharges is a common practice and represents the main source of marine pollution from ships. Because of this situation the demand for efficient detection and mapping of oil pollution in the sea is growing. One of the key instruments to monitor and detect oil spills at sea are Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems. SAR systems are able to detect spills on the sea surface indirectly, because of the effect on the wind generated short gravity – capillary waves. The oil film damps these waves which are the primary backscatter agents of the radar signals. Unfortunately, oil slicks are not the only phenomena which can appear as a dark feature in a SAR image. The contrast between the spill and its surroundings depends on a number parameters like wind speed, wave height, and the amount and type of oil released. Under certain air/sea boundary layer conditions, other sea surface manifestations of natural origin may result to SAR expressions or false targets, similar to those due to an oil spill. They are usually referred to as look-alikes objects. The largest challenge in detection of oil spills in SAR images remains in the accurate discrimination between oil spills and look-alikes. Dark patches in SAR images can result from different sources like reduced wind speed or from reduced wind stress due to colder sea surface temperatures and other features. The knowledge of environmental conditions like wind, currents, precipitation and other concomitant marine and atmospheric phenomena like internal waves, upwelling, grease ice, algae blooms etc. as well as contextual information about slick position relative to surrounding objects (ships, maritime routes, rigs, platforms, natural seeps) of the past and at the time of the SAR acquisition is in many cases essential for the definition of the reliability of oil spill detections. The compilation of probability maps of occurrence of look-alike oil phenomena which are derived from ancillary metocean data and contextual information is to be used in the process of categorising the oil spill detections in SAR images. This paper describes a new approach in categorising the detected oil spills from the SAR image analysis in three different levels of probability based on metocean and contextual background information.JRC.G.4-Maritime affair

The Use of Satellite Radar Imagery in the Prestige Accident

The support activities within the European Commission (EC) DG Joint Research Centre (JRC) during the Prestige accident are described. The basics of the methodology used to process and interpret the satellite images are introduced. Results showing the most relevant image interpretations illustrate the use of space-borne imagery in an emergency phase. Some example image interpretations are validated with results from visual inspections concurrently on the spot.JRC.DG.G.4-Maritime affair