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.