Presentation
Oil Slick Thickness Measurement using Thermal Sensors in Arctic Environments
DescriptionThe U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) Research and Development Center (RDC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) conducted a series of experiments from May 29th to June 3rd, 2022 in Oliktok, AK, as part of continued effort to advance detection of oil using uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) during Arctic oil spills. These experiments were a follow up to studies conducted in April 2021 at the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) in Hanover, NH. The experiments at CRREL served as initial steps towards operations of UAS platforms for oil spill response. Several questions remained after the CRREL experiments that required further research in the Arctic regarding UAS and detection operations. Refining and expanding the ability to use UAS platforms with thermal and multispectral sensors to detect, characterize, and map surface oil thickness in ice infested water was a key objective of the experiments. The Oliktok experiments with Alaska North Slope crude and marine diesel provided a multitude of findings regarding detection of oil thickness in cold waters and relationships that needed to be confirmed with additional experiments. For example, during tote experiments, apparent temperatures measured by the thermal sensor progressively increased as oil thickness increased on the warmer days, but plateaued at thicknesses ≥ 1,000 µm. When light levels and water temperatures were relatively low, the change in apparent oil temperatures with oil thickness was dampened. Cold temperatures, and the presence of ice also dampened the relationship. Flight altitude affected apparent temperature results indicating that altitude is also a control variable. From March 13th through the 15th, 2023, additional oil and ice experiments were conducted by the USCG Great Lakes Center of Expertise, NOAA, and CRRC at Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, MI with similar objectives aimed at refining the relationships relating oil thickness to apparent temperature observed in Oliktok. These experiments allowed the team to validate the relationships between water temperature, light levels, and the ability of thermal sensor apparent temperature data to determine oil thickness of crude oil and diesel slicks in waters ranging from 32 to > 45oF. The family of calibration curves developed for the thermal sensor as a function of water temperature, light levels, and altitude for crude oil and diesel will be presented, along with the associated caveats, for oil slick thickness measurement in cold climates.
Authors
Senior Scientist, NOAA's OR&R
UNH Director, Coastal Response Research Center
Director, WaterMapping LLC
Director of Emergency Management, USCG
Project Manager, USCG R&D CenterEvent Type
Paper
TimeThursday, May 16th10:20am - 10:40am CDT
Location298-299
Remediation