Satellite Based Pollution Monitoring in Prince William Sound Final - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Satellite ‐ Based Pollution Monitoring in Prince William Sound Final Presentation to Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council May 6, 2016

Outline  Introduction  Approach  Results  Conclusions and Recommendations

Introduction  Project Objective – Demonstrate capabilities of satellite ‐ based pollution monitoring in Prince William Sound – April 2015 to January 2016  Project Tasks – Compile ancillary information – Adjust detection processes to local conditions – Establish monitoring plan – Execute monitoring program

Introduction  Satellite ‐ based oil slick monitoring – Primarily based on satellite radar imagery – Radar imagery is largely weather independent – Detection of slicks as dark objects against a brighter background – Other phenomena cause signatures similar to oil slicks • wind shadow, fronts, biogenic slicks, algal blooms, ship wakes, freshwater, sea ice, etc.

Examples of Satellite ‐ Based Slick Detection Oil slick  Canadian Space Agency, 2002

Operational Satellite Radar Missions

Introduction  Operational Satellite ‐ based oil slick detection – Radar imagery is available in NRT – Approaches range from manual to semi ‐ automated extraction – Operator intervention is critical to differentiate between slicks and look ‐ alikes • Shape • Context • Brightness • Environmental conditions

Approach  Area of interest – PWS – Major shipping lane (1km buffer)  Satellite data – Sentinel ‐ 1 – Freely available – (Pre ‐ )operational

Satellite Imagery (Sentinel ‐ 1)

Ancillary Data  Environmental parameters from Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) – Surface wind speed – Presence of sea ice – Algae blooms – Shoreline residual oil

Analysis  Dual focus – Detection of potential slicks (dark targets) – Detection of large vessels (bright targets) in shipping lane – Both applications share common processing elements – Operational procedures in place at C ‐ CORE

Results Surveillance Products

Results

Examples of Slick Look ‐ Alikes and Vessels

Results  No potential oil slicks were detected during this investigation – Limited number of images processed – Complexity of the AOI – Low probability of occurrence of voluntary or accidental oil spills

Results  Lessons learned from major surveillance programs Integrated Satellite Tracking of Pollution (ISTOP) (Canada) and CleanSeaNet (Europe) – ISTOP processed more than 10,000 images since 2006 with 258 possible oil slicks identified (Environment Canada, 2015) • Approximately 50 images processed on average to detect one potential slick – ISTOP and CleanSeaNet process comparable number of satellite images on a yearly basis • Number of detected potential slicks per image is much higher for CleanSeaNet, reflecting higher maritime traffic density

Results  Lessons learned from major surveillance programs ISTOP (Canada) and CleanSeaNet (Europe) – CleanSeaNet also shows a global reduction in the number of potential slicks detected per image from 1.38 in 2008 to 0.75 in 2009 (EMSA, 2011) – Decline in detections under ISTOP and CleanSeaNet suggests satellite monitoring programs are effective deterrents – Regular, public promotion of the surveillance program important to ensure regulatory compliance

Conclusion  Sentinel ‐ 1 imagery – AOI was infrequently covered – Imagery was often not available within 2 h – Data is freely available  Going forward – Sentinel ‐ 1 B launched in April – More complete coverage of western Arctic expected – Possibility to lobby ESA for increased coverage – Include optical imagery from Sentinel ‐ 2

Conclusion  Satellite ‐ based oil slick monitoring is fully operational and applicable anywhere in the world within the limitations inherent in the technology – To be effective, satellite ‐ based monitoring should be conducted in near real ‐ time (~2h between satellite observation and report generation) – Streamlined, operational process is required that integrates with existing processes and procedures

Conclusion  Basic framework for satellite ‐ based slick detection can be expanded to include other elements of satellite surveillance – Iceberg and ship detection as demonstrated – Sea ice – Water quality (optical imagery) – Optical/radar synergies

Recommendations  Take advantage of freely available Sentinel ‐ 1 imagery over PWS to implement an ongoing, regular satellite surveillance program  Monitoring should be carried out at a meaningful frequency (once fully operational, Sentinel ‐ 1 imagery should be available over PWS at least twice per week)

Recommendations  Implement a capacity for image analysis in near real ‐ time, together with suitable response actions to potential slicks detected (e.g. identify pollution control authorities)  In addition to potential oil slicks, the satellite monitoring program should consider the detection of vessels and icebergs in the PWS area

Recommendations  Over time, satellite ‐ based products should be re ‐ analyzed to reveal spatial and temporal distributions of potential oil slicks, vessels and icebergs  The design of a satellite monitoring program should be flexible to accommodate future additions (e.g. Sentinel ‐ 2 imagery)