Minerals Management Service Program Home Page MMS Home pagesSearchMMS Topic IndexAbout MMSWhat’s NewOffshore Energy and Minerals Management United States Department of the Interior
TA&R Home PageTA&R International Home PagesTA&R Oil Spill Research HomeTA&R Research Projects HomeTA&R Workshops HomeTA&R Safety Home
 Technology Assessment & Research (TA&R) Program
Project Number 658
Date of Summary April 09, 2010
Subject Open Water Multispectral Aerial Sensor Oil Spill Thickness Mapping In Arctic and High Sediment Load Conditions
Performing Activity Ocean Imaging Corporation
Principal Investigator Dr. Jan Svejkovsky and Mr. Judd Muskat
Contracting Agency Minerals Management Service
Estimated Completion May 11, 2011
Description The current aerial thickness mapping system could begin to be routinely deployed during oil spill response activities (as is now been done in California). For this to occur in other U.S. geographic areas the technology must be tested and validated under oceanographic and environmental conditions that were not experienced during initial development. The existing system was developed and operationally tested under temperate sea and atmospheric conditions with reasonable water clarity. Many geographic regions with oil and gas activities experience conditions outside of this realm. One important example is Arctic conditions at high latitudes. There is a need for system testing under extreme conditions.

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.

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 IR oil mapping algorithm development.

3. Development of a simplified multispectral imaging system.

4. System testing on Alaska’s North Slope. 5. System testing in highly turbid waters (Gulf of Mexico.
Progress Experiments were conducted February 22-26, 2010 at Ohmsett for cold weather testing of the oil thickness mapping sensor and to support infra-red oil mapping algorithm development. MMS will conduct a demonstration exercise of the oil thickness mapping sensor in Cook Inlet, AK on July 29, 2010 in conjunction with the Alaska Regional Response Tram meeting. The oil thickness mapping sensor will be flight tested in Prudhoe Bay, AK in August 2010 to evaluate several Arctic region-suitable digital data dissemination systems.
 

Last Updated: 04/20/2010, 03:38 PM