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Advances in Underwater Autonomous Vehicle Oil Plume Detection Capabilities
Citation:
Conmy, R., A. Kukulya, D. Sundaravadivelu, A. Hall, D. Gomez-Ibanez, N. Kinner, L. Dipinto, D. Tulis, AND G. Graettinger. Advances in Underwater Autonomous Vehicle Oil Plume Detection Capabilities. International Ocean Optics Conference, Quy Nhon, Binh Dinh, VIETNAM, October 02 - 07, 2022.
Impact/Purpose:
To present a paper on the use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) in oil spill monitoring at the International Ocean Optics Conference. This is the world's premiere forum for submsersible sensor technology. Dr. Conmy will present the paper, engage with manufacturers at the exhibit hall, and meet with project collaborators.
Description:
Oil spill monitoring efforts below the air-water interface have been vastly improved by advances with in situ optical sensors and vehicle platform technology. Optical techniques using fluorescence, scattering, and holography offer a means to determine dissolved versus droplet fractions, provide oil concentration estimates and serve as proxies for dispersion efficiency. For subsurface spills over large space and time scales, Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) can be used to provide subsurface plume footprints and estimate oil concentrations for operational decision-making. Presented here is the development of a Remote Environmental Monitoring UnitS (REMUS) AUV equipped with a fluorescence and backscatter SeaOWL UV-A (Oil-in-Water Locator; Sea-Bird Scientific WET Labs Inc.), holographic imager (HoloCam; SeaScan, Inc), video camera, dissolved oxygen sensor, CTD and water/oil discrete sampler. Calibration and validation tests were conducted at the Coastal Response Research Center flume tank (NH, USA). Oil concentration estimates were verified by chemical analysis of hydrocarbons and particle size analysis (LISST 100X, Sequoia Scientific, Inc). Field operational performance of the sensors and vehicle was evaluated at the natural oil seeps off Santa Barbara, CA. Vehicle missions were treated as a mock-oil spill to evaluate time constraints with data processing and dissemination to the incident command data repository. This research demonstrates the forensic value of in situ optical data for improved oil spill surveillance below the air-sea interface.