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Project Number 588
Date of Summary August 8, 2008
Subject Detection of Oil on and Under Ice - Phase 3
Performing Activity DF Dickins and Associates and Boise State University
Principal Investigator Mr. David Dickins and Mr. John Bradford
Contracting Agency Minerals Management Service
Estimated Completion Completed
Description Over the past three years, under continued MMS sponsorship, the development of oil and ice detection system has made significant progress through a series of successful projects (TAR-517, TAR-547 and TAR-569). This new research project will undertake a series of four tasks to assess the technical feasibility and cost of developing and incorporating airborne oil detection systems in future field trials with oil and ice. The tasks include:
  1. Airborne Oil Under Ice Hardware Evaluation
  2. Airborne Oil Under Ice Development Plan
  3. Surface Oil Under Snow Modeling
  4. Airborne Oil Under Ice Computer Modeling

This project is co funded with Alaska Clean Seas and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation who will fund three tasks.

  1. Software Update and Training for Prudhoe Bay, AK Operations
  2. Preparation and Planning for Prudhoe Bay, AK Workshop
  3. Conduct a 2-Day Workshop in Prudhoe Bay, AK
Progress Results from Task 1. indicates that there are no commercially available airborne radar systems with an operating frequency range of 500MHz to 1GHz. There are two research groups that have been developing airborne radar systems primarily for glacial ice-sheet imaging. They are the University of Texas and the Center for Remote Sensing of Ice Sheets (CReSIS) at the University of Kansas. The CReSIS system is the most relevant to our application. Discussions of future collaboration with CReSIS are ongoing. The collaboration may include side by side comparison of the CReSIS system with our commercial Ground Penetrating Radar system deployed in an airborne mode.

Measurements with the GPR were conducted over an intentional oil spill in Svea, Svalbard in April 2006 and in April 2008. The overall results from two field tests are very promising in that they indicate that GPR using currently available systems is capable of detecting and mapping oil in ice over a broad operational time window from early to late winter, typically November to April in the Beaufort Sea area. This window of opportunity covers approximately 70% of the near shore fast ice season in most years. The current generation GPR is capable of mapping oil under or trapped within growing winter ice from 30-210 cm (1-7 foot thick). Minimum oil thickness detection limit appears to be roughly 2 cm.

In both field tests, the GPR was also tested in an aerial configuration and was able to detect oil on frozen ground under snow and oil encapsulated in or under fresh ice. The GPR is good at detecting oil in and under first year ice with relatively even top and bottom surfaces. Detecting oil thru multi-year ice or rafter/ridged first year ice is expected to be difficult because of the voids and jumbled blocks of rough ice.

In February 2008, A GPR training class was conducted in Prudhoe Bay, AK with scientists and technicians from Alaska Clean Seas(ACS). ACS has an operational GPR system and have conducted training classes in its operation. They now have a core of trained responders familiar in using the GPR.

The intent is to continue further research to understand the capabilities of the GPR under different snow, ice and oil conditions throughout the winter season. This development work is designed to create the basic knowledge base that will result in further operational tools based on GPR technology.

The final report has been accepted by MMS. This project is complete.
Reports
AA  File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). (473 KB) Evaluation of Higher-Powered Airborne Radar Systems to Detect Oil Under Ice and Snow – Scenario Descriptions, D. Dickins and J. Bradford, DF Dickins and Associates and Boise State University, 8 pp., August 17, 2007.
AB  File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). (329 KB) Summary of Search results on Airborne Radar Systems with an Operating Frequency Range of 500MHz to 1GHz, D. Dickins and J. Bradford, DF Dickins and Associates and Boise State University, September 14, 2007.
AC  File in Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF). (5688 KB) Detection of Oil on and Under Ice: Phase III - Evaluation of Airborne Radar System Capabilities in Selected Arctic Spill Scenarios, D. Dickins, DF Dickins and Associates and Dr. J. Bradford, Boise State University, 55 pp. July 2008.

 

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