1. Remote Sensing and Satellite Technology to support MSP: what's is
the innovation pipeline?
Keiran Millard, Independent Consultant
Abstract
This paper examines the role that satellite technology can play in supporting marine spatial planning
(MSP). It considers the current capability of satellite techniques relevant to MSP and how this capability
may change over the next 15-20 years.
Satellite technologies have a long history in monitoring the marine environment going back to the early
1990s, however the use of this technology has been met with mixed success and accordingly patchy
uptake. Some techniques have worked particularly well, however satellite derived earth observation in
particular was historically promoted as an alternative, rather than a compliment, to traditional in-situ
techniques and this was a mistake. Whilst satellite derived data provided unprecedented wide area
coverages of the ocean, it has been too imprecise, spatially and temporally to replace traditional
observation techniques in many areas. Accordingly the benefits of satellite data have never quite
reached a 'tipping point' where the value of their contribution makes them indispensable.
Now, however, a number of disruptive technologies are combing to offer the potential for a very valuable
role for satellite derived data to support a range of marine activities, including Marine Spatial Planning.
Introduction
Satellite technology embraces three main facets: earth observation (EO), positioning and satellite
communications. Earth Observation is the most diverse and what most actors consider when thinking of
satellite technology. EO covers a number of distinct observation techniques and methods that provide
signatures of the earth it observes covering ocean colour, wave height and bathymetry amongst others.
Positioning using GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) methods such as GPS and Galileo are widely
used for vessel tacking and monitoring. Satellite communications provides both voice and data transfer
for locations out of range from terrestrial systems.
Marine spatial planning (MSP) is effectively about making space for marine activities - such that we can
both maximise benefit from them and minimise their harm to the marine environment - including other
marine actors. The key value of satellite technologies is in supporting the establishment of marine
spatial plans and, probably of more importance, on-going monitoring of the performance of the plan.
Establishing and operating marine spatial plans requires information from a combination of data from
different sources. In the context of satellite technology, one single image is not going to provide all the
data. What is needed is a small amount of data from a range of satellite methods and this data will vary
from location to location dependent on the priorities for these locations and what satellite techniques
are relevant. For example optical techniques will be more applicable in the Gulf or Red Sea than the
North Sea as there is less cloud cover and the waters are less turbid in these regions.

2. Furthermore, many of the constraints in establishing marine plans are based on boundaries that are
political in nature (e.g. EEZ, protected sites) and these certainly cannot be observed from space.
Satellite technology however informs both the setting and policing of these boundaries. The fact that we
are looking at activities that occur at the scale of the EEZ (200 nautical miles) and of greater importance
at the scale of territorial waters (12 nautical miles) means we are looking at planning activities that
demand a detailed spatial scale and high level of precision.
Satellite Technologies
Satellite Technologies and Marine Spatial Planning
Satellite technologies goes well beyond the popular use of optical imagery seen in mapping applications
such as Google Earth of Bing Maps. However what these mapping technologies do demonstrate
however is how a good delivery engine and compelling ‘user app’ is key to empowering decision makers
with satellite technology. The following is meant to illustrate the breadth of satellite technology and the
role is can play in marine spatial planning.
Satellite Communication and Positioning.
Most users are familiar with the concept of satellite positioning using techniques such as GPS in their car
navigation system or phone. The technique can equally be applied at sea. Similarly most users are
familiarly with mobile communication technology and again satellite techniques make this possible at
sea. These two technologies are commonly combined for use in marine planning applications. For
example underwater autonomous vehicles and drifters that sample the World’s ocean and
communicate their position and data at regular intervals. Probably the most important application of
this technology for a marine spatial planning perspective is AIS. Automatic Identification System (AIS) is
an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and
locating vessels. It is intended for collision avoidance but also for maritime domain awareness in
national defence and security applications; search and rescue operations; and environmental
monitoring. Satellite-based AIS, where satellites are used to detect AIS signatures, provides a means to
track the location of vessels anywhere around the world, especially over open oceans.
Ocean Colour and Optical imagery.
These two techniques are referred to as passive methods for observing the ocean. By passive it is meant
that they rely on reflected sunlight to generate an image of the earth’s surface. Optical techniques
operate primarily in the visible electromagnetic spectrum to produce an image to be viewed by humans
and from this features that are discernible to the human eye can be extracted. In clear waters this can
include features on the seabed such as benthic vegetation and can also be used to provide a measure of
sea depth up to around 20m. Ocean colour techniques are based on using hyperspectral instruments
that view in the earth across a discreet range of visible and non-visible frequencies in the
electromagnetic spectrum. These precise frequencies allow for precise detection of ocean features that
are related to colour, for example chlorophyll and suspended sediment. As an example, these are used
to detect sediment plumes from river discharges or dredging, algal blooms or nutrient loading in the
water.
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Altimetry.
These two methods are referred to as active observation methods in that they transmit their own signal

3. that is subsequently detected. They key advantage of this method is that is can be used irrespective of
sunlight. Altimetry provides a height measurement at a point and this can be processed to measure the
height of the oceans and is used for long-term sea-level rise assessments as well as wave height
measurements. SAR imagery is an image based on multiple radar pulses and is effective at detecting
physical changes in surface patterns. In the marine environment it has been effectively used for
identification of sea surface oil, sea-ice as well as ocean currents and vessels at sea.
Limitations of Satellite Technology
As mentioned in the introduction to this paper, satellite technology has limitations that have restricted
its uptake. The limitations of current satellite technology presented here are focussed on EO techniques
and whilst not meant to be exhaustive, is meant to present an appreciation of the form that these
limitations take. The subsequnet section highlights how these limitations are likely to be addressed with
future innovations.
Spatial / Temporal Resolution
All satellites have an inherent resolution that is dependent on their orbit cycle and instrument design.
So a satellite method may not be available at a precise time data is required, and/or the spatial detail of
what is being observed may not be sufficiently precise. This latter point is particularly the case with
hyperspectral and SAR methods.
Spectral Resolution / Feature Resolution
There are inherent limitations on what a satellite can observe. This can be due to the nature of the
instrument and / or physics of the Earth. For example a hyperspectral instrument with the correct
wavelength can detect suspended matter in the ocean, however this is based on detection of the first
1m or so of the water column – it is not the total amount of sediment in suspension. Similarly altimeter
techniques have a poor performance at the coast whilst the technique adjusts from observation over
the land to observation over the sea during the satellite overpass.
Night and Cloud
Passive observation techniques rely on sunlight, so at night or when there is cloud cover the earth
cannot be observed using these methods.
Industry Organisation
Marine spatial planning requires a ‘mix and match’ of information from a variety of EO techniques and
this will vary from plan area to plan area; depending on what can be observed and what the marine plan
objectives are. The EO supply sector is not optimised to respond in this way; this is partly political, but
also partly technological. Initiatives like Copernicus / MyOcean and GlobWave have begun to address
this at a political level1
1 Processing raw satellite data to where it is usable by domain experts requires expertise and know how. In response to this the ESA established
Copernicus as an operational service for satellite data processing. There is an explicit satellite data processing service under Copernicus for
marine users called MyOcean

4. What can we expect going forward?
A recent report commissioned by the European Space Agency (ESA) looked at trends that could affect
the supply of data from satellites2
. Some of these are of particular relevance to the marine spatial
planning community. These trends are related to satellite technology advancements, but equally to
changes in the data market related to advances in how we store, manage and distribute large datasets.
Four of these trends are presented in the following sections.
More Data.
Lots more data. In fact between now and 2020 the amount of satellite data available is set to double.
Today we only have half the data we will have in five years’ time. It means that at any given time and
place, data is more likely to be available. This is for two reasons. First we are launching more satellites
and we can do this because we can make smaller, lower cost satellites. Second we are better at making
and launching satellites and as a result the average mission operational lifespan is almost 9 years now
compare to 3 years in the 1970’s. Third we are collecting more data per instrument as a result of the
increased spatial and spectral resolution of the new generation of instruments.
Better Data.
The spatial and spectral resolution of instruments is increasing. New approaches in deployable optics
means the resolution of instruments can be increased. Advances in radar techniques are improving
both the number of radar frequencies used and spatial resolution which will allow for more applications
to benefit from observations not limited to clear, daylight planet. There are also emerging cross-over
techniques like GNSS-R where analysis of the signal in positioning applications give information on sea
state.
Drones and UAV.
Drones and unmanned airborne vehicles (UAV’s) are set to be game changer when combined with
satellites. We have to some extent have been here before: in the 1990's aircraft remote sensing was
used alongside satellite to provide the detail of the satellite’s wide area context. Now satellites are
delivering aircraft-quality data, leaving UAV’s deliver ultra-high resolution data. Unlike aircraft, UAV’s
are low cost to deploy and infinitely more taskable. UAV’s have benefited from the miniaturisation that
has taken place in the satellite sector meaning more advanced payloads can be carried by UAV’s.
Big data.
Satellite data is big data which means what is happening in the big data arena benefits the satellite
arena. New approaches to processing large volumes of data quickly and cheaply, as well as building API's
to the data for developers to access provides the glue that enables satellite-derived data to be part of a
richer information ecosystem
2
EO 21 Indicator of Trends: http://www.eo21.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/EO21-Indicator-of-Trends.pdf

5. Conclusions
Marine spatial plans are a device to manage multiple actor use of the marine environment. Satellite
technology provides both a synoptic and multi-perspective view of the marine environment and as such
is philosophically aligned with supporting MSPs.
Satellites can be used to provide earth observation, communications and positioning. Positioning and
communications have had good uptake whilst the update of earth observation has been mixed; this is
despite a large range of techniques being available that can observe different aspects of the
environment. One reason for this is that earth observation is not a substitute for traditional in-situ
techniques and to some extent this is how it has been 'marketed' in the past. This has been due in part
to the fact that from a technological perspective this is the only way the supply chain could operate.
Over the next 20 years we will see the satellite data community not as a provider of images that you
view, download and analyse, but as a source to a ubiquitous and rich data environment. We currently
have this with GNSS positioning data - which is simply consumed by a range of applications without a
second thought about satellites. The big disruptive change will come about from processing services
that will deliver precise slices of information from multiple satellite (and non-satellite) platforms to
application providers. Advances in generic big data management are advancing and enabling this.
In addition to satellites being delivered more reliably, at lower cost and with improved spatial
resolution, we are seeing novel instruments being mounted on drones. These are a scaled down version
of EO technology, providing both tasked and quasi-routine monitoring to compliment the wide-scale
(both in temporal and spatial terms) EO view. Satellite and drone technology together can provide
options for bespoke surveillance, smart location of activities in their respective zones, avoiding conflicts
and early warning of incidents.
Satellite technology will not play a role in defining marine spatial plans themselves; these decisions are
political. But it will be key to the science base that underpins the plan and be an essential component in
how these plans evolve and are managed and policed.
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the useful discussions and references provided by the UK Satellite
Applications Catapult (@sa_catapult) in support of this paper, in particular Alan Cox, Daniel Wicks and
James Slaughter.