Application of autonomous systems to monitor oil spills
Lead Research Organisation:
National Oceanography Centre
Department Name: Science and Technology
Abstract
The National Oceanography Centre is at the forefront of the development of marine autonomous systems (MAS). These include deep-diving robotic submarines, gliders and surface vehicles that can take sensors to measure large areas in remote parts of the ocean. As the capability of marine and aerial autonomous systems increases more potential applications are becoming apparent, including the possibility to improve monitoring of industrial activities at sea. There is particular interest in how autonomous systems can be used to improve the quality and efficiency of routine monitoring of the environment and infrastructure relating to the oil and gas industry. There are also questions about how these systems can be used to monitor, and help in the response to oil spills. This project aims to investigate how autonomous surveillance systems (aerial and marine) can fit into emergency oil spill response and routine monitoring of the environment and infrastructure in the oil and gas industry.
A researcher from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) will work as an intern at Oil Spill Response Limited, an industry funded cooperative that responds to oil spills globally. The intern will carry out a wide ranging review of the scope of autonomous systems used commercially and in research to identify systems and sensors that may be applied in response to oil spills or routine monitoring. The work will then consider the design of surveys using multiple platforms such as autonomous marine and aerial vehicles to identify the requirements from deployment to data management. This will draw on lessons learned from NOC's experience with MAS. The conclusions from these studies will be used to investigate how autonomous systems could be incorporated into routine operations in an industrial setting which will them be presented to and discussed with members of the oil and gas industry and research community.
A researcher from the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) will work as an intern at Oil Spill Response Limited, an industry funded cooperative that responds to oil spills globally. The intern will carry out a wide ranging review of the scope of autonomous systems used commercially and in research to identify systems and sensors that may be applied in response to oil spills or routine monitoring. The work will then consider the design of surveys using multiple platforms such as autonomous marine and aerial vehicles to identify the requirements from deployment to data management. This will draw on lessons learned from NOC's experience with MAS. The conclusions from these studies will be used to investigate how autonomous systems could be incorporated into routine operations in an industrial setting which will them be presented to and discussed with members of the oil and gas industry and research community.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Andrew Gates (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Jones DOB
(2019)
Autonomous marine environmental monitoring: Application in decommissioned oil fields.
in The Science of the total environment
| Description | The overall conclusion of is work is that data collection by marine autonomous systems has the potential to add value in emergency oil spill response. In spill scenarios, sensors delivered by MAS will provide greater data collection capability, providing information to enhance situational awareness. In particular MAS sensor data will inform on oceanographic conditions during the spill response and monitoring and provide information on the trajectory of an oil spill and, perhaps most relevant in the emergency response phase, provide information on the effectiveness of response techniques. Furthermore, the use of MAS in other phases of routine oil and gas operations will increase understanding of environments to identify areas likely to be impacted in the event of an oil spill. Wider use of MAS in the oil industry will increase the assets available to be mobilised in the event of a spill but arrangements need to be made to increase preparedness for mobilisation of appropriate MAS. A number of challenges remain, particularly relating to MAS data interpretation in near real time in an emergency response, in order to consider MAS an integral part of the oil spill response tool kit in the short term. Another key feature of this work was getting professional response personnel working with Marine Autonomous Systems to understand how they may be used in future in their industry. |
| Exploitation Route | The research carried out in this project will inform Oil Spill Response Limited as they continue to explore the best approaches situational awareness during spill response. The many meetings, presentations and demonstrations with academic and commercial MAS and sensor manufacturers and service providers that took place during this study ensure a greater understanding among these groups, of the requirements of MAS in spill response. Currently many of these manufacturers propose their systems have applications in oil spills but the exact role is largely undefined. The work carried out here should lead to an improvement in understanding of the requirements, driving an improved service offered by commercial organisations that will be beneficial to improve response and monitoring in spill scenarios. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Environment |
| Description | The findings are directly informing how Oil Spill Response Limited may work towards the uptake of marine autonomous systems to improve situational awareness and decision making in response to oil spills. This includes types of vehicle and sensor that may be most appropriate, methods of deployment and survey design. Commercial MAS service providers are using the findings to understand how they can offer an improved service, particularly understanding the specific requirements during a response. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Energy,Environment |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Marine Autonomous Systems for oil spill response |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | This project provided guidance to offshore oil spill response exercises. This meant that oil spill responders (practitioners) had the opportunity to work directly with Marine Autonomous System service providers in order to better understand the roles for the technology in their business with the aim to improve monitoring of response techniques. |
| URL | https://www.oilspillresponse.com/news--media/news/osrl-tests-and-validates-remote-sensing-equipment/ |
| Description | Sustained autonomous environmental monitoring of offshore oil fields |
| Amount | £35,766 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | NE/S009426/1 |
| Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2018 |
| End | 03/2019 |
| Description | Application of Marine Autonomous Systems to Oil Spill Response and Monitoring |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a presentation at the Interspill conference at the ExCel Conference Centre, London. My talk "Application of Marine Autonomous Systems to Oil Spill Response and Monitoring" was part of the session "Situational Awareness for the Spill Prevention & Response Community" during which I also participated in a panel discussion. The purpose was to raise awareness of autonomous methods for environmental monitoring during oil spill response and monitoring. The audience was made up of experts in the oil spill community. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://www.interspillevent.com/en/Sessions/51605/Situational-Awareness-for-the-Spill-Prevention-Res... |
| Description | NERC Env EXPO |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I participated in an expert panel at the NERC Env EXPO at UEA in 2017 giving perspectives on "grand challenges in observing systems". I framed this around understanding the dynamics and potential impacts of oil spills. I then worked with groups of PhD students who were tasked with preparing presentations on their views for future challenges in environmental science. The debate among the students was interesting and led to good presentations. The visit to UEA also enabled networking with participants from CEFAS, JNCC, UEA and University of Essex, among others. Useful ongoing relationships have been formed through this engagement. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.uea.ac.uk/envexpo |
| Description | Oil Spill Response Visualisation Cetre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Oil Spill Response Ltd carried out an exercise to demonstrate and showcase multiple technologies used in response to an oil spill. This included 1 x propeller driven Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV), 1 x glider AUV, 1 x Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, 3 vessels on site, 1 camera deployed on a kite with live feed, 2 body cameras with live feed, 2 boat cameras with live feed, state of the art communication systems, satellites imagery, in-water fluorometry, 2 aircraft with hyperspectral, Infrared and Ultraviolet cameras , 3 SCAT teams, 1 mobile communication van, 3 ocean current models, 2 oil spill models, an App (e-Tool) to collect SCAT, an in the field App, BP's Common Operating Picture, and a SCAT Operational Dashboard. There was a visualisation centre operational during the exercise to which 50 delegates were invited and web links were provided to other OSRL bases globally. I displayed a poster and spoke with many of the delegates about use of marine autonomous systems in oil spill response and monitoring. This was a valuable opportunity to highlight the work of this project to relevant stakeholders and show the capabilities of MAS in a variety of offshore industry scenarios. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Presentation and discussion with Oil Spill Response Ltd |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a presentation about the INSITE AT-SEA AUV missions to decommissioned oil platforms in the North Sea. The aim was to present the project and initial findings to help plan future use of autonomy in oil spill response by OSRL. The audience was experts from the technical department at the international oil spill response company Oil Spill Response Ltd (OSRL). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Presentation at the Marine Autonomy & Technology Showcase |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Presentation about the OSRL/NOC Innovation partnership project at the Marine Autonomy & Technology Showcase. This led to continued discussion afterwards and interest from various stakeholders in the outcomes of the project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://noc.ac.uk/news/line-announced-2017-marine-autonomy-technology-showcase |
| Description | Presentation at the Marine Measurement Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | The Marine Measurement Forum (MMF) is a series of one-day, non-profit making events that provides opportunities for the informal exchange of ideas, knowledge, techniques and developments across an extensive range of marine scientific measurement activities. Attendees typically include scientists, surveyors, engineers and business people from a variety of organisations including research centres, academia, manufacturers, survey companies, consultants, monitoring authorities, dredging companies, port authorities, oil companies, societies. Andrew Gates co-presented the National Oceanography Centre-OSRL collaborative autonomy project to delegates. Discussions that followed were valuable and led to letters of support for upcoming research grant application. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.ths.org.uk/documents/ths.org.uk/downloads/mmf59_programme_-_final.pdf |
| Description | Presentations at the Industry Technical Advisory Committee |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I did two presentations at the Industry Technical Advisory Committee for Oil Spill Response: Bridging Science and Technology in Oil Spill Preparedness and Response.Presentation 1 was an introduction to the work of the National Oceanography Centre's MARS group and the wide ranging applications of marine autonomous systems (MAS) in current and future oceanographic research. This was followed by a presentation specifically about use of MAS in oil spill scenarios. This was a valuable forum to disseminate this work because it included professionals from different areas of the offshore industry operational experts, policy makers and academic scientists. In many cases this was the first introduction to the use of MAS in oil spill scenarios. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.oilspillresponse.com/news--media/events/itac2/ |
| Description | Technical sesssion at Oil Spill Response Limited |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | I led a "Technical Session" at the international organization Oil Spill Response Limited to teach members of the company about current methods in oceanographic survey and sampling, and how these are being supplemented and improved by the use of Marine Autonomous Systems. This included discussion of how the latest MAS systems could be used to increase efficiency and quality of data collection in their business. Members of the company were present in the UK for the presentation and called in from North America and Asia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Workshop at National Oceanography Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | This was a workshop to discuss survey design for use of different types of Marine Autonomous Systems (MAS) in operational oil spill scenarios. The workshop involved scientific experts from NOC, oil industry representatives from BP, oil spill technical experts and operational experts from Oil Spill Response Limited and representatives from the MAS manufacturers and service providers (Planet Ocean and Blue Ocean Monitoring). The delegates were international with colleagues calling in from Perth, Western Australia to participate. The discussions around the topic were fruitful and later in the year several practical exercises were carried out to test to discussed activity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |