EC unveils new EU maritime policy   The proposed approach for an integrated maritime surveillance system combining satellite-based vessel detection, transponder-based vessel identification and coastal radar vessel tracking with airborne patrols.   This Envisat ASAR wide-swath image acquired 17 November 2002 shows a double-headed oil spill originating from the stricken Prestige tanker, lying 100 km off the Spanish coast.   Utilising data from Envisat’s Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) instrument, as well as other instruments aboard different satellites, ESA provides daily sea surface temperature maps of the European seas in near-real time as part of the agency’s Medspiration project.   Integration of vessel tracks from the coastal Automatic Identification System (AIS) with Envisat ASAR imagery. The concidence of the reported vessel track (in green) and the observed oil spill (the dark line at the centre of the image) gives an indication of the vessel responsible. Vessel names are blanked out.   High chlorophyll-a concentrations in the Dutch coast from April 2007 observed by Envisat MERIS. Blue colour represents the lowest concentration, while brown shows the highest values. Release date: 6 February 2008