Images taken by COSMO-SkyMed radar satellites of the Gulf of Mexico show the oil slick (in black) close to the Louisiana coast. Part of the jagged outline of the Mississippi Delta can be seen on the left.

The white dots in the sea are ships, many of which are at the edge of the oil slick and involved in containment and clean-up operations after the fire on the Deepwater Horizon platform.

A comparison of the images taken on 29 April and on the 2 May with the latest one of 3 May shows that, due to a change in the wind direction, the oil slick is moving towards the north-east and away from the Mississippi Delta.

e-GEOS, a joint venture between the Italian Space Agency and Telespazio, has commenced daily monitoring of the Gulf of Mexico and, thanks to the COSMO-SkyMed images, is providing valuable information on the movement of the oil slick.

The COSMO-SkyMed constellation can also obtain several images of the area in any one day, and can operate in all atmospheric conditions, day and night. The satellites are equipped with radar sensors that can operate without restrictions.

Images on Google Earth, click here.

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