Oil Pollution in the Southeastern Baltic Sea by Satellite Remote Sensing Data in 2004-2015

Abstract

The results of satellite monitoring of oil pollution in the Southeastern Baltic Sea in 2004-2015 are discussed in the paper. Interannual and seasonal variability of oil pollution is investigated. A steady decrease in total oil pollution was observed from 2004 to 2011. After a sharp increase of oil pollution in 2012, oil pollution level has established at 0.39 PI Index. Maximum of oil spills is observed in the spring and summer, which is probably due to favorable weather conditions for the detection of oil spills on radar images. According to the analysis of the shapes of the detected oil spills, it was concluded that the main polluters of the sea surface are vessels. No oil spills originated from the oil platform D-6 was detected in 2004-2015. Results of numerical experiments with the Seatrack Web oil spill model show that in the case of potential discharge of oil from the D-6 platform, oil will not reach the Curonian Spit beaches during 48 h after an accident.

Chronic Oil Pollution from Vessels and Its Role in Background Pollution in the Southeastern Baltic Sea

“…Most of the observed oil spills do not result from accidents but from intentional discharges. According to the HELCOM data for the whole Baltic Sea, data of other authors, and our own data for the southeastern Baltic Sea, oil spills are mainly located along the main shipping routes in the Baltic Sea (Figure 1) [3,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]. The concentration of oil spills close to the shore in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Latvia is the result of aerial observations predominantly within its territorial waters [6] (Figure 1).…”

“…Analogs of this system do not exist for other seas of the Russian Federation. Since 2004, the data obtained within the framework of this satellite monitoring is the only source of continuous information on the sea surface oil pollution in the southeastern Baltic Sea [9][10][11][12][15][16][17].…”

“…The authors of this paper regularly publish the spatial and temporal characteristics of oil pollution in the southeastern Baltic Sea, revealed from the results of yearly satellite and in situ monitoring [9][10][11][12][15][16][17], and inform others about the unprecedented cases of oil pollution [24]. The last update of this information was published 5 years ago [11,12].…”

“…The authors of this paper regularly publish the spatial and temporal characteristics of oil pollution in the southeastern Baltic Sea, revealed from the results of yearly satellite and in situ monitoring [9][10][11][12][15][16][17], and inform others about the unprecedented cases of oil pollution [24]. The last update of this information was published 5 years ago [11,12]. The aim of this paper is to present the updated (up to December 2020) statistical information on oil pollution in the southeastern Baltic Sea resulting from illegal discharges from vessels detected using SAR, as well as to estimate the percentage of such oil pollution in the total background oil pollution.…”

Spatial Distribution of Oil Spills at the Sea Surface in the Southeastern Baltic Sea According to Satellite Sar Data

“…The reason of "clean sea" in Russian, and Lithuanian EEZs is a lack or absence of air surveillance system. The only source of information about oil pollution of the sea surface in the Russian EEZ of the Southeastern Baltic Sea is satellite monitoring of oilfield Kravtsovskoye (D-6) initiated by LUKOIL-KMN Ltd. with the beginning of oil extraction in 2004 (Bulycheva et al, 2014(Bulycheva et al, , 2015(Bulycheva et al, , 2016a(Bulycheva et al, , 2016b(Bulycheva et al, , 2016cLavrova et al, 2014). The spatial distribution of oil pollution (number, area, and shape of oil spills) divided between the parts of Polish, Russian, and Lithuanian EEZs was analysed for the first time.…”