Baltic Sea from Copernicus Sentinel-3

Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on 30 May 2021, this image shows the Baltic Sea and coastlines of the surrounding countries of Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany. Sea-level rise is a major global concern, and using satellites carrying radar altimeters to map sea-level change close to the coast is difficult, especially along complex coastlines such as those seen here. The main problem is because mountains, bays and offshore islands distort the radar signal that is reflected back to the satellite. Another problem is sea ice, which covers parts of the oceans in winter, is impenetrable to radar. However, new research demonstrates how a specific way of processing satellite now makes it possible to determine sea-level change in coastal areas with millimetre per year accuracy, and even if the sea is covered by ice.

Read full story: New satellite data techniques reveal coastal sea-level rise