Statistical Grid-Based Analysis of Anthropogenic Film Pollution in Coastal Waters According to SAR Satellite Data Series

The problem of adequate quantitative analysis of anthropogenic film pollution of water areas according to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite imagery is addressed here. A quantitative analysis of anthropogenic film pollution (AFP) in the studied coastal water areas of the north sector of the Black Sea and Avacha Gulf has been conducted. The analysis utilized a method that involved the statistical processing of data related to AFP identified within the cells of a regular spatial grid. Time series of Sentinel-1 SAR satellite imagery were used as initial data. Spatiotemporal distributions of the proposed quantitative criterion (eAFP, ppm) have been calculated and analyzed. This criterion characterizes the intensity of AFP impact within the selected regions of marine waters based on measuring the relative frequency of an AFP event. Among them, the area of the emergency fuel oil spill that occurred in 2024–2025 near the Kerch Strait was investigated (eAFP values near the wreckage of tankers reached ~13,000 ppm), as well as the area of the emergency oil spill near the Novorossiysk terminal that occurred in 2021 (eAFP ≤ 6000 ppm). Accidents led to an approximately 3–6-fold increase in eAFP values against the background level of 0–2000 ppm. The spatiotemporal variability of eAFP across various water areas and under different conditions has been demonstrated and discussed.