ESA coast mapping will aid shipping

By Keith Nuthall

THE EUROPEAN Space Agency (ESA) is developing a service that could save the insurance industry expensive shipwreck policy payouts, updating coastal maritime maps from space, writes Keith Nuthall. The E1m ($1.22m) Coastchart project aims at improving charts of shifting sand, mud and gravel-banks that can move hundreds of metres annually. With 680,000 km of coastline worldwide, keeping accurate records is difficult, even using weather-dependent aerial photography. So ESA has developed a radar camera for its environmental satellite Envisat, giving quick, up-to-date and accurate images of coastal waters.