An Autonomous Robotic Platform for Detecting, Monitoring and Tracking of Oil Spill on Water Surface

Author(s):  
Swarn Singh Rathour ◽  
Naomi Kato ◽  
H. Senga ◽  
N. Tanabe ◽  
M. Yoshie ◽  
...  

With the aim of aiding mitigation efforts, in mapping and simulating the transport of the discharged hydrocarbon this paper proposes an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV), propelled by wind and water currents for the long-term monitoring of spilled oil on the ocean surface. This paper makes a unique contribution to the literature in proposing a cluster-based decision-making algorithm for sailing the ASV based on a complete scanning history of the area surrounding the vehicle by the oil detection sensor. A Gaussian-based oil cluster filtering algorithm is introduced to identify the largest oil slick patch. The physical constraints of the ASV have been taken in account to allow for the computation of feasible maneuvering headings for sailing to avoid sailing upwind (i.e., in the direction from which the wind is coming). Finally, using neoprene sheets to simulate oil spills, field test experiments are described to validate the operation of the ASV with respect to oil spill tracking using a guidance, navigation, and control system based on onboard sensor data for tracking the artificial oil targets.

2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (5) ◽  
pp. 239-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Li

Oil spills in industrialized cities pose a significant threat to their urban water environment. The largest city in Canada, the city of Toronto, has an average 300–500 oil spills per year with an average total volume of about 160,000 L/year. About 45% of the spills was eventually cleaned up. Given the enormous amount of remaining oil entering into the fragile urban ecosystem, it is important to develop an effective pollution prevention and control plan for the city. A Geographic Information System (GIS) planning model has been developed to characterize oil spills and determine preventive and control measures available in the city. A database of oil spill records from 1988 to 1997 was compiled and geo-referenced. Attributes to each record such as spill volume, oil type, location, road type, sector, source, cleanup percentage, and environmental impacts were created. GIS layers of woodlots, wetlands, watercourses, Environmental Sensitive Areas, and Areas of Natural and Scientific Interest were obtained from the local Conservation Authority. By overlaying the spill characteristics with the GIS layers, evaluation of preventive and control solutions close to these environmental features was conducted. It was found that employee training and preventive maintenance should be improved as the principal cause of spills was attributed to human errors and equipment failure. Additionally, the cost of using oil separators at strategic spill locations was found to be $1.4 million. The GIS model provides an efficient planning tool for urban oil spill management. Additionally, the graphical capability of GIS allows users to integrate environmental features and spill characteristics in the management analysis.


Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Garcia Marco

Thesauri are considered as an optimum between maximum ontological modelling (best knowledge mapping) and minimal alphabetic ordering (less expensive access). From this point of view a swift history of its evolution is provided. The recent evolutions in Internet searching are also analysed from this perspective. In this context, there is an immediate role for thesauri to ensure interoperability and feed up the new Internet semantic engines; and in the long term as a simple semantic user interface for resource discovery and navigation, which ensures proper transparency and control by the user who wants to take the effort to supervise and analyse its search processes. It is proposed that better devices for ensuring semantic sorting are provided when necessary, and that a distributed hub for thesauri interconnection is provided, perhaps using the existent big open Internet semantic facilities, as Wikipedia


Author(s):  
Joel Bernstein

The intimate connection between structure and properties is particularly acute in establishing the effectiveness and safety of high energy materials based on molecular compounds: chemical and physical stability, shelf-life, sensitivity to shock, pressure, and temperature. Compared to other classes of compounds treated in the book for which the polymorphs with less suitable properties are not chosen for use, and thus relegated to lower importance, for high energy materials the risks and dangers of lack of familiarity and control of the polymorphic system can entail considerable long-term risks. The chapter is divided into two major sections distinguishing between aliphatic materials and the aromatic materials, commonly known by their alphabetic moniker. Throughout the chapter the history of the development of many of these materials is provided, including some rather obscure references culled from formerly classified government research reports. A detailed discussion of the classic enigmatic polymorphism of trinitrotoluene (TNT) is presented.


1993 ◽  
Vol 1993 (1) ◽  
pp. 695-697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Dean ◽  
Lyman McDonald ◽  
Michael S. Stekoll ◽  
Richard R. Rosenthal

ABSTRACT This paper examines alternative designs for the monitoring and assessment of damages of environmental impacts such as oil spills. The optimal design requires sampling at pairs of impacted (oiled) and control (unoiled) sites both before and after the event. However, this design proved impractical in evaluating impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill on nearshore subtidal communities, and may be impractical for future monitoring. An alternative design is discussed in which sampling is conducted at pairs of control and impact sites only after the impact.


1989 ◽  
Vol 1989 (1) ◽  
pp. 265-271
Author(s):  
Klaus Schroh

ABSTRACT Prevention and control of oil spills in the Federal Republic of Germany are based on an agreement between the federal government and the four coastal states. Comprehensive procurement and reconstruction programs for oil pollution personnel and equipment are realized and finalized within two years. The Federal Minister for Research and Technology contributed substantially toward using advanced oil spill response techniques at sea and for shoreline cleanup. Since the particular ecological conditions of the Wadden Sea on the German coastline greatly limit dispersant application, main emphasis was given to developing recovery systems meeting the following requirements:An extended scope of mechanical application at sea, for wave heights exceeding 1.2 m (4 feet)New types of recovery vessels with multiple functions, like bunkering services and floating reception facilitiesOil recovery with self-driven vessels for shallow waters close to the coastline and embankmentsDesign of an amphibious chain-driven vehicle for oil recovery in Wadden Sea areas. With the integration of these new types of oil recovery vessels or systems the German recovery fleet now consists of 6 high-sea-going vessels and 14 recovery vessel devices for shoreline cleanup.


1969 ◽  
Vol 1969 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.E. Biglane

Abstract This paper summarizes some of the major oil spills of recent years and discusses some of the causes of these spills and their effects on the environment. Information is presented on research needed to control oil spills and on domestic and international legislation needed to provide compensation for oil pollution damage.


2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (1) ◽  
pp. 569-575
Author(s):  
Ernest Brannon ◽  
Keya Collins ◽  
Lawrence Moulton ◽  
Keith R. Parker

ABSTRACT In the tenth year following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, differences of opinion still exist about injuries to pink salmon. It was alleged that exposure to oil reduced growth of fry and induced mortality in eggs. The authors reexamined the allegation that injury occurred and have concluded that insufficient consideration was given to other factors that affected results in the studies from which these allegations were drawn. The inability to track temperature differences and the unknown ages of fry precluded assessment of oil effects on growth during early marine residence. Reported higher egg mortality and long-term injury alleged to have resulted from oil exposure during incubation were confounded by the mortality of eggs that occurred as an artifact of the sampling procedure, unrelated to oil effects. The authors concluded that injury to incubating pink salmon embryos and reduced fry growth were based on an incomplete assessment of other factors that influenced these results. This evidence is supported by other research that has disclosed no oil effects on incubating eggs. Among these were studies that showed measured oil concentrations reaching the incubation substrate were 14 to 7,600 times below the lethal threshold. The seven largest runs in the history of Prince William Sound (PWS), Alaska have returned in the 10 years following the spill, which ultimately demonstrated the lack of measurable effect of the oil spill on pink salmon. The authors suggest that the allegation of oil-induced injury to PWS pink salmon needs to be reconsidered in light of these analyses.


2003 ◽  
Vol 2003 (1) ◽  
pp. 1035-1037 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kirwan John Short

ABSTRACT On the 18th January 2000 a broken pipeline owned and operated by the oil company Petrobras spilt some 1300 tonne of bunker fuel into Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro. The wildlife response was divided amongst 2 operational strategies and included – avian fauna and cetaceans. This paper deals with the cetacean response only. Cetaceans are generally not considered as an important feature of an oil spill response. Contingency planning for cetaceans in oil spills is now becoming an important element for preparedness for some countries. The cetacean response in Guanabara Bay specifically targeted a pod of about 70 members of the species Sotalia fluviatilis, a small dolphin that inhabits the bay. The response included the development of a plan that included a response system, a monitoring program and action plans. The response system detailed the mechanism for the plan to work and adopted the incident control management system. The monitoring program related to the study of any short term or long term deleterious effects resulting from the spill and consisted of basic spatial, temporal and behavioural studies. Action plans were developed specific to the character of Guanabara Bay and included the rescue and rehabilitation strategies necessary to respond to oil affected cetaceans. A training program was then developed and implemented to personnel who were to enact the cetacean response.


2001 ◽  
Vol 2001 (2) ◽  
pp. 1467-1469
Author(s):  
Stéphane Grenon ◽  
Vincent Jarry ◽  
Darcy Longpré ◽  
Kenneth Lee ◽  
Albert D. Venosa

ABSTRACT The St. Lawrence River, situated between Canada and the United States, provides a major transport route in North America for the transport of millions of tons of crude oil, condensates, and refined products each year. In addition, as one of the largest rivers in the world, it is of major ecological significance. For example, over 55,000 hectares of wetlands are found along the St. Lawrence alone. These areas provide habitat for wildlife, the nurseries for fisheries, and control coastal erosion are highly vulnerable to oil spills. Furthermore, as traditional oil spill cleanup methods may be ineffective or cause more damage, emergency responders are considering less intrusive methods such as biorestoration as operational countermeasures. A biorestoration experiment was designed to measure the effectiveness of this method in the St. Lawrence River. To conduct this experiment, 1,200 liters of crude oil were to be spilled in a controlled manner over an experimental zone of 750 m2 in a marsh area. To obtain regulatory approvals from governmental agencies, environmental groups and, more importantly, to avoid the “not in my backyard” protests from the local communities, site selection, emergency planning, contingency measures, and especially community meetings, were all necessary steps towards the acceptance of the project. This controlled spill was done in June 1998 without any incident. Sampling of the experimental site will be completed in the fall of 2000. This paper aims to provide insights on the steps needed to gain acceptance from concerned citizens for the conduct of a controlled oil spill experiment.


2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-18
Author(s):  
Debra Shutika

Since the passage of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), Mexican farmworkers who were formerly seasonal migrants have been settling in greater numbers out of the traditional "gateway" states of California, Texas and Illinois. These "new destination" communities typically do not have a long-term history of Mexican settlement. Like many of these new settlement communities, Kennett Square Pennsylvania, the "Mushroom Capital of the World," has hosted Mexican farmworkers for nearly thirty years. For most of that time, Mexicans living on the periphery of this prosperous town were scarcely noticeable. This has been changing gradually since the early 1990s, as a steady increase of Mexican families have decided to make Kennett Square their permanent home. This population, once nearly invisible, is now one of the defining characteristics of Kennett identity.


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