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The U.S. Coast Guard Research and
Development Center (RDC) plans to test and evaluate oil spill detection
and recovery technologies in the Arctic Ocean as part of Operation
Arctic Shield 2013. A multi-agency team of engineers and scientists led
by RDC researchers will conduct a series of demonstrations in September
aboard Coast Guard Cutter Healy to test and evaluate capabilities of
various unmanned aerial systems (UAS), an unmanned underwater vehicle
(UUV) and a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to search for simulated oil
spills.
“This analysis builds on several years of
oil in ice work, unmanned systems evaluations and underwater research
conducted by the RDC, including a series of winter tests previously
conducted in the Great Lakes,” stated Rich Hansen, the Arctic
coordinator at the RDC and chief scientist for this mission. “It is
quite an accomplishment to bring together this multi-agency team with
such a wide array of experience and expertise.”
Capt. Alan Arsenault, the RDC’s commanding
officer, added, “These organizations have been great to work with, and
the RDC anticipates future Arctic technology collaboration like this one
that will include involvement by both public and private sector
partners.”
To support planned UAS testing, the RDC has
assembled a team to include National Oceanographic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) personnel operating a Puma UAS; University of
Alaska, Fairbanks researchers operating Puma systems funded by The
Center for Island, Maritime, and Extreme Environment Security;
representatives from the Department of Homeland Security Science and
Technology Center of Excellence and personnel from the U.S. Air Force
Special Operations Command. The team will also assess the capabilities
of the UAS to support other Coast Guard operational missions while
onboard the Healy.
Tests will also include operation of a
SeaBED UUV by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) researchers. The
UUV involvement is part of a research effort funded by the Bureau of
Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). Members from BSEE have been
working with WHOI researchers to establish methods to detect, measure,
and map oil under, or encapsulated within, Arctic sea ice. Tests will
build on work that has been performed by BSEE to evaluate several
candidate sensors to establish a sensor suite capable of detecting and
quantifying the thickness of oil from below the ice. The emphasis during
this evaluation will be on system deployment and recovery, two-way
communication, ice-bottom mapping and search pattern development.
NOAA personnel will also employ the
Environmental Response Management Application online mapping tool that
integrates both static and real-time data for use during the exercise.
The Coast Guard is providing one of its brushed skimmer systems to
simulate recovery operations at the ice edge and a Video Ray PRO 4 ROV
to provide a vantage point from below to observe and document skimming
operations.
Coast Guard Cutter Healy, commissioned in
2000, is the nation’s newest and largest polar icebreaker. The cutter
is 420 feet long and has extensive scientific capabilities. Homeported
in Seattle, the cutter’s primary mission is scientific support, and as a
Coast Guard Cutter, it is capable of performing critical Coast Guard
missions, including search and rescue, ship escort, marine environmental
protection, and the enforcement of laws and treaties in polar regions.
Arctic Shield 2013 is an operational
exercise being conducted by the Coast Guard’s 17th District, which
highlights the Coast Guard’s plans to protect the maritime community in
the Arctic and to strengthen partnerships with federal, state, local,
tribal and community members. This operation gives the Coast Guard an
opportunity to exercise its capabilities to ensure the organization has
the right resources to conduct Arctic operations.
Post to be found at:
http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/US-Coast-Guard-to-Test-Oil-Spill-Technologies-in-Arctic-2013-08-13/
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