A geographic information system (GIS) can contribute significantly to the correct interpretation of the slick signatures visible on synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. Initially, GIS has proven to be an excellent management tool for resource assessment, oil spill response and planning, and damage assessment. The GIS approach to the problem of oil spill mapping includes integration of the geographical, remote sensing, oil and gas production/infrastructure data and slick signatures, detected by SAR, in GIS. Compiled from data from several sources including nautical maps, geodatabases, ground truth and remote sensing data, GIS allows the retrieval of key information, such as predicting oil spill locations, revealing offshore/onshore sources, and estimating the intensity of oil pollution. SAR and GIS technologies can improve the identification and classification of oil spills, leading to construction of the final product, an oil spill distribution map. This approach has been applied to oil spill mapping in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. We conclude that the combination of GIS and SAR technologies provides an ideal solution for understanding the spatial/temporal distribution of oil spills in the marine environment and is considered as the core of the oil spill monitoring system.

Bora events over the Adriatic Sea and Black Sea are investigated by using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired by the advanced SAR (ASAR) on board the European satellite Envisat. It is shown that the sea surface roughness patterns associated with bora events, which are captured by SAR, yield information on the finescale structure of the bora wind field that cannot be obtained by other spaceborne instruments. In particular, SAR is capable of resolving 1) bora-induced wind jets and wakes that are organized in bands normal to the coastline, 2) atmospheric gravity waves, and 3) boundaries between the bora wind fields and ambient wind fields. Quantitative information on the sea surface wind field is extracted from the Envisat ASAR images by inferring the wind direction from wind-induced streaks visible on SAR images and by using the C-band wind scatterometer model CMOD_IFR2 to convert normalized cross sections into wind speeds. It is argued that spaceborne SAR images acquired over the east coasts of the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea are ideal means to validate and improve mesoscale atmospheric models simulating bora events.

Oil spills are one of the major environmental concerns, especially in the coastal zones of the ocean. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery from the European Remote Sensing (ERS)‐2 and Envisat satellites has proved to be a useful tool for monitoring oil spills in the marine environment due to its all‐weather and all‐time capability. More than 600 scenes with SAR images acquired over the western part of the East China Sea in 2002–2005 were collected, and of these, 120 scenes containing pronounced oil spills were processed and analysed. To analyse SAR image signatures of the oil spills, a geographic information system (GIS) framework was used. The oil spills were distinguished from look‐alike phenomena by using other remote sensing data, and contextual information was incorporated into the GIS to obtain an oil spill distribution map for the western part of the East China Seas. Analysis of the temporal and spatial distribution of the oil spills revealed the risk areas and confirmed previous findings that oil spills are mainly distributed along regional shipping routes. This verifies that illegal discharges from ships are the main source of oil pollution in this region. The detailed analysis also revealed different types of oil pollution and showed diurnal and seasonal variations in the amount of oil spills detected by SAR images acquired in the morning/evening time and in the summer/winter.

Data from the space-borne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) aboard the Envisat satellite and MODIS spectroradiometers on board the Terra/Aqua satellites, and the high resolution Sea Ice-Ocean Model of the Baltic Sea (BSIOM) have been used to investigate two upwelling events in the SE Baltic Sea. The combined analysis was applied to the upwelling events in July 2006 along the coasts of the Baltic States, and in June 2008 along the Polish coast and Hel Peninsula. Comparisons indicated good agreement between the sea surface temperatures and roughness signatures detected in satellite imagery and model results. It is shown that BSIOM can simulate upwelling events realistically. The utilization of modelled hydrodynamics and wind stress data together with SAR and SST information provides an extended analysis and deeper understanding of the upwelling processes in the Baltic Sea.During the active phase of upwelling when the wind is strong, the resulting coastal jet is controlled by vorticity dynamics related to depth variations in the direction of the flow. Typical upwelling patterns are related to the meandering coastal jet and thus associated with topographic features. The longshore transport of the coastal jet is of the order of 104ms−1, and the offshore transport at the surface is of the order of 103ms−1, which respectively correspond to the total and largest river runoff to the Baltic Sea

Two groups of oil slicks have been repeatedly detected in the Southern Caspian Sea, off Cape Sefidrud and close to the Iranian coast of the sea on the synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images acquired by the Sentinel-1A and Sentinel-1B satellites in April–June 2018. Analysis of the SAR images together with bathymetry, geological and geophysical data in geographic information system showed that these manifestations (oil slicks) visible on the sea surface have natural origin, related to the bottom seepage phenomenon and are associated with existing hydrocarbon system. Oil slicks are concentrated over the continental slope and related to local geological formations of the sedimentary cover having oil deposits related to paleo-delta of Sefidrud River. Our evidence shows that two seeps in this area are active and repeating. It is concluded that the SAR is an excellent tool for monitoring of seepage phenomenon. Moreover, results indicate that the use of remote methods to identify offshore natural oil seeps related to existing active petroleum system can be considered as a well-accepted approach to support oil and gas exploration in frontier areas such as the South Caspian Basin.