The role of wide swath SAR in high-latitude coastal management

Monitoring dynamic ocean and coastal processes at high latitudes with polar -orbiting synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems is much easier than over o ther regions. The confluence of satellite swaths provides relatively freque nt coverage, especially with the wide swath modes of satellites such as Rad arsat-1 and Envisat. Norway is responsible for managing economic zones that stretch from 56 to 82 degrees N, and has taken advantage of this favorable geography. The result to date is the establishment of operational services for fisheries monitoring in the Barents Sea and around Jan Mayen Island in the Greenland Sea, and for oil spill monitoring along the Norwegian coast and in the North Sea. Both programs make significant use of spaceborne SAR systems.