SMART: A Guided Tour

SMART (Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies) is a cooperatively-designed monitoring program for dispersant operations and in situ burning. SMART was developed by the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for the capabilities of the Federal government, but SMART may be adopted and modified by other users. SMART is an option, not a regulatory requirement.

SMART relies on small, highly mobile teams to deploy to the scene of dispersant applications or in situ burning operations. The monitoring teams collect real-time data using portable, rugged, and easy-to-use instruments, and channel the data to the Unified Command (UC), a group made up of representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, the state, and the responsible party. The monitoring data provided by these teams assist the Unified Command with these critical questions:

• When dispersants are used during spill response, are the dispersants effective in dispersing the oil?
  
• When in situ burning is used, are particulate concentration trends exceeding the level of concern?

This guided tour will first show you how the SMART program monitors dispersant applications, then will guide you through the monitoring of in situ burning operations.

The application of dispersant by fixed-wing aircraft.

Part 1

Spill responders sometimes use dispersants to help clean up an oil spill. A dispersant is a chemical that breaks oil down into small droplets. Combined with wind and wave action, dispersants allow spilled oil to biodegrade more rapidly.

An observer's view of a dispersant application during the Exxon Valdez spill in March 1989.

Tier I: Visual Observations

SMART provides three levels (tiers) for monitoring the efficacy of dispersant applications. Tier I monitoring employs the simplest operation: visual observation. In Tier I monitoring, a trained observer flies over the oil slick and, using NOAA's Job Aids or advanced remote-sensing instruments, assesses the efficacy of the dispersant based on his or her visual observation. The observer then reports the observations to the Unified Command.

Related Materials

SMART Back to the SMART Web section.