Sentinel-1A spots potential oil slick from missing EgyptAir plane
by
The Sentinel-1A radar satellite detected a slick in the eastern Mediterranean Sea – in the same area that EgyptAir flight MS804 disappeared early morning of 19 May 2016 on its way from Paris to Cairo. Sentinel-1A acquired this image later in the day at 16:00 GMT (18:00 CEST) in ‘extra-wide swath mode’ of 400 km with horizontal polarisation. ESA provided it to the relevant authorities to support the search operations. The 2 km-long slick is located at 33°32' N / 29°13' E – about 40 km southeast of the last known location of the aircraft. Although there is no guarantee that the slick is from the missing airplane, this information could be helpful for the search. Credit: Copernicus Sentinel data [2016], processed by ESA & Sentinel-1 Mission Performance Centre
The Sentinel-1A radar satellite has detected a potential oil slick in the eastern Mediterranean Sea – in the same area where EgyptAir flight MS804 disappeared early yesterday morning on its way from Paris to Cairo.
The image was acquired by Sentinel-1A yesterday at 16:00 GMT (18:00 CEST).
ESA has given information related to the image to the relevant authorities to support the search operations.
Since the plane disappeared, ESA and experts have been scrutinising satellite data to see if anything could be found to indicate wreckage or oil floating on the sea.
According to the satellite image, the slick was at 33°32' N / 29°13' E – about 40 km southeast of the last known location of the aircraft. The slick is about 2 km long.
There is, however, no guarantee that the slick is from the missing aircraft.
A second image from this morning at 04:00 GMT (06:00 CEST) shows that the slick has drifted by about 5 km.
The Sentinel-2A satellite will pass above the same area on 22 May, and experts will continue to study the images returned for further clues.
Both Sentinel satellites were launched as part of Europe's environmental monitoring Copernicus programme, led by the European Commission.
ESA and the European Commission have released this information in parallel.
The Sentinel-1A radar satellite detected a slick in the eastern Mediterranean Sea – in the same area that EgyptAir flight MS804 disappeared early morning of 19 May 2016 on its way from Paris to Cairo. Sentinel-1A acquired this image later in the day at 16:00 GMT (18:00 CEST) in ‘extra-wide swath mode’ of 400 km with horizontal polarisation. ESA provided it to the relevant authorities to support the search operations. The 2 km-long slick is located at 33°32' N / 29°13' E – about 40 km southeast of the last known location of the aircraft. Although there is no guarantee that the slick is from the missing airplane, this information could be helpful for the search. Credit: Copernicus Sentinel data [2016], processed by ESA & Sentinel-1 Mission Performance Centre
Citation:
Sentinel-1A spots potential oil slick from missing EgyptAir plane (2016, May 20)
retrieved 2 May 2025
from /news/2016-05-sentinel-1a-potential-oil-slick-egyptair.html
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
