It is likely that as the developed technology becomes more known and accepted for operational use, the systems will need to be regionally owned and operated. With the rapid advancement of digital camera imaging technology a new, much more compact, less expensive and simpler to operate hardware could be utilized in the future systems. There is a need for the testing of simplified, self contained multispectral system configurations. This project is a direct continuation of TAR projects 544 and 594.

Tasks: The project is comprised of five research/development and test/demonstration phases that also represent the project’s major milestones. Since some tests are dependant on specific seasons (i.e. wintertime experiments at Ohmsett and summer (ice free) testing on Alaska’s North Slope).

1. Determination and initial testing of Arctic region-suitable digital data dissemination system.
    
2. Wintertime testing of oil thickness mapping sensor at Ohmsett and subsequent cold condition thermal Infrared (IR) oil mapping algorithm development.
    
3. Development of a simplified multispectral imaging system.
    

On May 1, 2010, Ocean Imaging’s (OI) oil spill mapping team was summoned to the Gulf by NOAA and British Petroleum to provide our capabilities during the response to the Mississippi Canyon 252 oil spill. NOAA provided OI with a Twin Otter aircraft on which OI mounted its multispectral color and thermal IR instruments. Guided by daily-changing imaging target priorities from the various Command Center groups, the OI team flew daily (and sometimes twice-daily) missions, mapping the oil's extents, weathering state and thickness. OI's data was used to: 1) help provide input and validation data for NOAA's oil spill trajectory forecast models; 2) document the effects of surface and subsurface dispersant applications; 3) provide recognizance and documentation of the existence and thickness of oil at the far boundaries of the spill; 4) map oil reaching the shoreline. The image data was processed while still airborne and immediately after touchdown. Fully processed oil state/thickness maps were disseminated to multiple Command Centers as they become available within 2-3 hours after the flight mission. A simplified map product specifically designed to help guide oil recovery vessels was also disseminated in near-real time. OI's high resolution oil thickness mapping provides much needed information not obtainable from satellite images which generally cannot be used to discern and unrecoverable thin oil sheens versus thicker oil accumulations that can be skimmed or treated with dispersants.

On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, at the request of the Alaska Regional Response Team, OI gave a presentation on the thickness sensor at their bi-yearly meeting. On Thursday, July 29, 2010 BOEMRE conducted a full-scale demonstration exercise of the thickness sensor mapping system. Mr. Todd Paxton, general manager of Cook Inlet Spill Prevention and Response Inc. (CISPRI) provided the vessel “Guardian” as the platform for 20 observers. The on-water component included a short boat ride from the Port of Anchorage to the exercise site. Two gallons of a fluorescent yellow/green dye were released into Cook Inlet as a simulated oil spill. The remote sensing plane overflew Cook Inlet, imaged the surrogate spill, and transmitted this information down to a secure server. Following the over flights, participants in the on-water component observed CISPRI conduct a boom-and-skimmer deployment. Participants who elect to remain in the conference center were shown how data from the system is received and utilized in a command center. They received a presentation explaining how the oil spill detection and mapping technology operates, and how the acquired data is processed, interpreted and applied. This included lessons learned from responses to spills off California and in the Gulf of Mexico. More than seventy scientists and observers participated in the exercise, OI's oil spill mapping work funded by BOEMRE and California Dept. of Fish and Game's Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) was selected for the 2010 Cooperative Conservation Award by the US Department of the Interior.