New ENVI Agent, IDL Agent, and GeoAgent Quick Guides

6/9/2026

The recent release of ENVI® Agent, IDL® Agent, and GeoAgent™ revolutionize how users interact with geospatial software. These agentic AI applications act as partners to plan, simplify, and execute complex workflows. Knowing where to start can be challenging for new users. To this end, we developed three new quick guides to... Read More >

Introducing NISAR Data Support

6/5/2026

The release of ENVI® SARscape 6.3 in April 2026 includes preliminary support for NASA-ISRO SAR (NISAR) data. The NISAR mission is a joint Earth-observing satellite project between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization designed to monitor changes in the planet’s land and ice surfaces using advanced radar imaging. It... Read More >

Monitoring Illegal Mining in the Amazon: Turning Persistent Data Into Actionable Insight

5/28/2026

Illegal mining over decades has constituted one of the most persistent and complex socio-environmental problems in the Brazilian Amazon. In recent years, with the increasingly intensive use of mechanized extraction, the associated environmental impacts—such as deforestation, intense soil disturbance, river siltation, and mercury... Read More >

From Answers to Action: Why ENVI and IDL Agents Go Beyond General AI

4/20/2026

As generative AI tools like Claude and Gemini continue to gain traction, many organizations are asking the same question: Can general purpose AI actually support real geospatial workflows, or does it stop at surface-level answers? That question was front and center in our recent webinar, Meet Your New Partners in Science: ENVI... Read More >

Mapping Earthquake Deformation in Taiwan With ENVI

12/15/2025

Unlocking Critical Insights With ENVI® Tools Taiwan sits at the junction of major tectonic plates and regularly experiences powerful earthquakes. Understanding how the ground moves during these events is essential for disaster preparedness, public safety, and building community resilience. But traditional approaches like field... Read More >

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Using SAR to Accurately Map an Oil Spill

Megan Gallagher Thursday, September 10, 2020

On July 25, the Japanese-owned ship MV Wakashio hit a coral reef while carrying 4,000 tons of fuel oil near Pointe d'Esny, which is close to the shores of the remote Indian Ocean island of Mauritius. On August 6, oil began leaking from the vessel.

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data from Sentinel-1 has been used to map the oil leakage and the environmental catastrophe affecting Mauritius. Traces of the oil spreading in the Blue Bay Marine Park are easily visible on SAR Sentinel-1 data compared to the optical Sentinel-2 image. The maximum extension of the spill has been detected using ENVI® SARscape and other ENVI analytics.

The migration of the vessel after its breakage has also been mapped using Sentinel-1 SAR data and ENVI.

Image Details: Copernicus Sentinel-1, track 78, VV polarization Copernicus Sentinel-2 Processing tools: ENVI 5.5.3 and ENVI SARscape 5.5.3, Intensity Time Series

For more about ENVI SARscape, click here. If you would like additional information, please contact us at GeospatialInfo@NV5.com.