31 August 2019 | New Scientist | 29Channel vision
Photo European Space Agency
THIS is a picture of division,
but also connection. Hundreds
of radar images taken by the
European Space Agency’s twin
Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellites
from 2016 to 2018 have been
combined to give this view of
the English Channel.
Water deflects the radar pulses,
rendering the sea wine-dark.
Metallic objects, by contrast,
ping the pulses back strongly.
Most obviously, that reveals ships
as bright dots (though wind farms,
a recent addition to the seascape
off the UK, are evident, too).
Two lines of dots proceed
ant-like in their designated lanes.
The lower consists of ships bound
for ports such as Rotterdam in the
Netherlands, Antwerp in Belgium,
Hamburg in Germany and
Felixstowe in the UK; the upper
of ships travelling west to the
Atlantic. This was the first such
maritime “traffic separation
scheme”, introduced to reduce the
potential for accidents in 1967.
Bright dots of vessels queueing
to enter the ports of Southampton
in the UK and Le Havre in France
are also visible to the left of the
image, as is the pinch point of the
Dover Strait between Britain and
France, top right. Here the Channel
narrows to 33 kilometres, and the
container traffic conflicts with one
of the world’s busiest international
ferry routes: Dover to Calais.
The Channel has long been
the UK’s bulwark, reinforcing
a self-image of otherness,
independence and indomitability
most recently reflected in the
country’s 2016 vote to leave the
European Union. How leaving will
change the established patterns of
international trade visible in this
picture is anyone’s guess. But what
is clear is that in today’s world no
country is truly an island. ❚
Richard Webb