The Archimedes IIa Experiment Remote Sensing of Oil Spills in the North-Sea

Abstract The need for an operational tool to detect, quantify and classify oil slicks on the sea surface increases year by year. In this field of remote sensing, the Institute for Radio-Frequency Technology of the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DFVLR) has investigated different methods with active and passive microwave sensors to solve these problems. Since 1983 two European scientific experiments (Archimedes I and II) were carried out in the North Sea. The DFVLR participated with airborne radar and radiometers systems. One of these sensors is the DFVLR SLAR, an inexpensive experimental side-looking airborne radar operating in X- and Ka-bands. It is used for generation of radar imagery from land and sea surfaces, and, depending on the application, can be flown in different single-engine and twin-engine research aircraft. On the basis of the Archimedes I and II mission experiences, a further scientific experiment (Archimedes IIa) was carried out in April 1988 to clarify the real potential of rada...