2015 Oil Observing Tools: A Workshop Report

Since 2010, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have provided satellite-based pollution surveillance in United States waters to regulatory agencies such as the United States Coast Guard (USCG). These technologies provide agencies with useful information regarding possible oil discharges. Unfortunately, there has been confusion as to how to interpret the images collected by these satellites and other aerial platforms, which can generate misunderstandings during spill events. Remote sensor packages on aircraft and satellites have advantages and disadvantages vis-à-vis human observers, because they do not “see” features or surface oil the same way. In order to improve observation capabilities during oil spills, applicable technologies must be identified, and then evaluated with respect to their advantages and disadvantages for the incident. In addition, differences between sensors (e.g., visual, IR, multispectral sensors, radar) and platform packages (e.g., manned/unmanned aircraft, satellites) must be understood so that reasonable approaches can be made if applicable and then any data must be correctly interpreted for decision support. NOAA convened an Oil Observing Tools Workshop to focus on the above actions and identify training gaps for oil spill observers and remote sensing interpretation to improve future oil surveillance, observation, and mapping during spills. The Coastal Response Research Center (CRRC) assisted NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration (ORR) with this effort. The workshop was held on October 20-22, 2015 at NOAA’s Gulf of Mexico Disaster Response Center in Mobile, AL. The expected outcome of the workshop was an improved understanding, and greater use of technology to map and assess oil slicks during actual spill events. Specific workshop objectives included: •Identify new developments in oil observing technologies useful for real-time (or near real-time) mapping of spilled oil during emergency events. •Identify merits and limitations of current technologies and their usefulness to emergency response mapping of oil and reliable prediction of oil surface transport and trajectory forecasts.Current technologies include: the traditional human aerial observer, unmanned aircraft surveillance systems, aircraft with specialized senor packages, and satellite earth observing systems. •Assess training needs for visual observation (human observers with cameras) and sensor technologies (including satellites) to build skills and enhance proper interpretation for decision support during actual events

An investigation of change in drone practices in broadacre farming environments

The application of drones in broadacre farming is influenced by novel and emergent factors. Drone technology is subject to legal, financial, social, and technical constraints that affect the Agri-tech sector. This research showed that emerging improvements to drone technology influence the analysis of precision data resulting in disparate and asymmetrically flawed Ag-tech outputs. The novelty of this thesis is that it examines the changes in drone technology through the lens of entropic decay. It considers the planning and controlling of an organisation’s resources to minimise harmful effects through systems change. The rapid advances in drone technology have outpaced the systematic approaches that precision agriculture insists is the backbone of reliable ongoing decision-making. Different models and brands take data from different heights, at different times of the day, and with flight of differing velocities. Drone data is in a state of decay, no longer equally comparable to past years’ harvest and crop data and are now mixed into a blended environment of brand-specific variations in height, image resolution, air speed, and optics. This thesis investigates the problem of the rapid emergence of image-capture technology in drones and the corresponding shift away from the established measurements and comparisons used in precision agriculture. New capabilities are applied in an ad hoc manner as different features are rushed to market. At the same time existing practices are subtly changed to suit individual technology capability. The result is a loose collection of technically superior drone imagery, with a corresponding mismatch of year-to-year agricultural data. The challenge is to understand and identify the difference between uniformly accepted technological advance, and market-driven changes that demonstrate entropic decay. The goal of this research is to identify best practice approaches for UAV deployment for broadacre farming. This study investigated the benefits of a range of characteristics to optimise data collection technologies. It identified widespread discrepancies demonstrating broadening decay on precision agriculture and productivity. The pace of drone development is so rapidly different from mainstream agricultural practices that the once reliable reliance upon yearly crop data no longer shares statistically comparable metrics. Whilst farmers have relied upon decades of satellite data that has used the same optics, time of day and flight paths for many years, the innovations that drive increasingly smarter drone technologies are also highly problematic since they render each successive past year’s crop metrics as outdated in terms of sophistication, detail, and accuracy. In five years, the standardised height for recording crop data has changed four times. New innovations, coupled with new rules and regulations have altered the once reliable practice of recording crop data. In addition, the cost of entry in adopting new drone technology is sufficiently varied that agriculturalists are acquiring multiple versions of different drone UAVs with variable camera and sensor settings, and vastly different approaches in terms of flight records, data management, and recorded indices. Without addressing this problem, the true benefits of optimization through machine learning are prevented from improving harvest outcomes for broadacre farming. The key findings of this research reveal a complex, constantly morphing environment that is seeking to build digital trust and reliability in an evolving global market in the face of rapidly changing technology, regulations, standards, networks, and knowledge. The once reliable discipline of precision agriculture is now a fractured melting pot of “first to market” innovations and highly competitive sellers. The future of drone technology is destined for further uncertainty as it struggles to establish a level of maturity that can return broadacre farming to consistent global outcomes

UAVs for the Environmental Sciences

This book gives an overview of the usage of UAVs in environmental sciences covering technical basics, data acquisition with different sensors, data processing schemes and illustrating various examples of application

Space Systems: Emerging Technologies and Operations

SPACE SYSTEMS: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES AND OPERATIONS is our seventh textbook in a series covering the world of UASs / CUAS/ UUVs. Other textbooks in our series are Drone Delivery of CBNRECy – DEW Weapons: Emerging Threats of Mini-Weapons of Mass Destruction and Disruption (WMDD); Disruptive Technologies with applications in Airline, Marine, Defense Industries; Unmanned Vehicle Systems & Operations On Air, Sea, Land; Counter Unmanned Aircraft Systems Technologies and Operations; Unmanned Aircraft Systems in the Cyber Domain: Protecting USA’s Advanced Air Assets, 2nd edition; and Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) in the Cyber Domain Protecting USA\u27s Advanced Air Assets, 1st edition. Our previous six titles have received considerable global recognition in the field. (Nichols & Carter, 2022) (Nichols et al., 2021) (Nichols R. K. et al., 2020) (Nichols R. et al., 2020) (Nichols R. et al., 2019) (Nichols R. K., 2018) Our seventh title takes on a new purview of Space. Let\u27s think of Space as divided into four regions. These are Planets, solar systems, the great dark void (which fall into the purview of astronomers and astrophysics), and the Dreamer Region. The earth, from a measurement standpoint, is the baseline of Space. It is the purview of geographers, engineers, scientists, politicians, and romantics. Flying high above the earth are Satellites. Military and commercial organizations govern their purview. The lowest altitude at which air resistance is low enough to permit a single complete, unpowered orbit is approximately 80 miles (125 km) above the earth\u27s surface. Normal Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite launches range between 99 miles (160 km) to 155 miles (250 km). Satellites in higher orbits experience less drag and can remain in Space longer in service. Geosynchronous orbit is around 22,000 miles (35,000 km). However, orbits can be even higher. UASs (Drones) have a maximum altitude of about 33,000 ft (10 km) because rotating rotors become physically limiting. (Nichols R. et al., 2019) Recreational drones fly at or below 400 ft in controlled airspace (Class B, C, D, E) and are permitted with prior authorization by using a LAANC or DroneZone. Recreational drones are permitted to fly at or below 400 ft in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace. (FAA, 2022) However, between 400 ft and 33,000 ft is in the purview of DREAMERS. In the DREAMERS region, Space has its most interesting technological emergence. We see emerging technologies and operations that may have profound effects on humanity. This is the mission our book addresses. We look at the Dreamer Region from three perspectives:1) a Military view where intelligence, jamming, spoofing, advanced materials, and hypersonics are in play; 2) the Operational Dreamer Region; whichincludes Space-based platform vulnerabilities, trash, disaster recovery management, A.I., manufacturing, and extended reality; and 3) the Humanitarian Use of Space technologies; which includes precision agriculture wildlife tracking, fire risk zone identification, and improving the global food supply and cattle management. Here’s our book’s breakdown: SECTION 1 C4ISR and Emerging Space Technologies. C4ISR stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Four chapters address the military: Current State of Space Operations; Satellite Killers and Hypersonic Drones; Space Electronic Warfare, Jamming, Spoofing, and ECD; and the challenges of Manufacturing in Space. SECTION 2: Space Challenges and Operations covers in five chapters a wide purview of challenges that result from operations in Space, such as Exploration of Key Infrastructure Vulnerabilities from Space-Based Platforms; Trash Collection and Tracking in Space; Leveraging Space for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management; Bio-threats to Agriculture and Solutions From Space; and rounding out the lineup is a chapter on Modelling, Simulation, and Extended Reality. SECTION 3: Humanitarian Use of Space Technologies is our DREAMERS section. It introduces effective use of Drones and Precision Agriculture; and Civilian Use of Space for Environmental, Wildlife Tracking, and Fire Risk Zone Identification. SECTION 3 is our Hope for Humanity and Positive Global Change. Just think if the technologies we discuss, when put into responsible hands, could increase food production by 1-2%. How many more millions of families could have food on their tables? State-of-the-Art research by a team of fifteen SMEs is incorporated into our book. We trust you will enjoy reading it as much as we have in its writing. There is hope for the future.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1047/thumbnail.jp

Arctic Domain Awareness Center DHS Center of Excellence (COE): Project Work Plan

As stated by the DHS Science &Technology Directorate, “The increased and diversified use of maritime spaces in the Arctic - including oil and gas exploration, commercial activities, mineral speculation, and recreational activities (tourism) - is generating new challenges and risks for the U.S. Coast Guard and other DHS maritime missions.” Therefore, DHS will look towards the new ADAC for research to identify better ways to create transparency in the maritime domain along coastal regions and inland waterways, while integrating information and intelligence among stakeholders. DHS expects the ADAC to develop new ideas to address these challenges, provide a scientific basis, and develop new approaches for U.S. Coast Guard and other DHS maritime missions. ADAC will also contribute towards the education of both university students and mid-career professionals engaged in maritime security. The US is an Arctic nation, and the Arctic environment is dynamic. We have less multi-year ice and more open water during the summer causing coastal villages to experience unprecedented storm surges and coastal erosion. Decreasing sea ice is also driving expanded oil exploration, bringing risks of oil spills. Tourism is growing rapidly, and our fishing fleet and commercial shipping activities are increasing as well. There continues to be anticipation of an economic pressure to open up a robust northwest passage for commercial shipping. To add to the stresses of these changes is the fact that these many varied activities are spread over an immense area with little connecting infrastructure. The related maritime security issues are many, and solutions demand increasing maritime situational awareness and improved crisis response capabilities, which are the focuses of our Work Plan. UAA understands the needs and concerns of the Arctic community. It is situated on Alaska’s Southcentral coast with the port facility through which 90% of goods for Alaska arrive. It is one of nineteen US National Strategic Seaports for the US DOD, and its airport is among the top five in the world for cargo throughput. However, maritime security is a national concern and although our focus is on the Arctic environment, we will expand our scope to include other areas in the Lower 48 states. In particular, we will develop sensor systems, decision support tools, ice and oil spill models that include oil in ice, and educational programs that are applicable to the Arctic as well as to the Great Lakes and Northeast. The planned work as detailed in this document addresses the DHS mission as detailed in the National Strategy for Maritime Security, in particular, the mission to Maximize Domain Awareness (pages 16 and 17.) This COE will produce systems to aid in accomplishing two of the objectives of this mission. They are: 1) Sensor Technology developing sensor packages for airborne, underwater, shore-based, and offshore platforms, and 2) Automated fusion and real-time simulation and modeling systems for decision support and planning. An integral part of our efforts will be to develop new methods for sharing of data between platforms, sensors, people, and communities.United States Department of Homeland SecurityCOE ADAC Objective/Purpose / Methodology / Center Management Team and Partners / Evaluation and Transition Plans / USCG Stakeholder Engagement / Workforce Development Strategy / Individual Work Plan by Projects Within a Theme / Appendix A / Appendix B / Appendix

Integration of remote sensing technologies into Arctic oil spill response

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2020Identifying the tools and pathways to successful integration of landscape level science into decision-making processes is vital for quality environmental stewardship. Remote sensing information can provide critical facts to decision makers that historically were only available via manned airplane flights and ground truthing expeditions. Remote locations like the Arctic are well suited for monitoring with remote sensing tools due to the lack of transportation infrastructure and communications bandwidth. Remote sensing tools can be valuable when monitoring specific Arctic targets like ocean going vessels, sea ice, coastal erosion, off-shore resource development infrastructure, and oil spills. This dissertation addresses how to mount a more efficient and informed response to Arctic oil spills by capitalizing on available RS tools. I posed three research questions to frame this work, 1) What remote sensing tools are currently available, as compared to those currently used in the Incident Command Structure of an oil spill response? 2) Are there barriers to additional remote sensing tool use for oil spill response support? 3) What process changes can improve or increase remote sensing data use in oil spill detection and response? I conducted a four-phased, exploratory sequential mixed methodological study to examine current remote sensing capacity and solutions to expand remote sensing use in support of oil spill response. Phase One defined the remote sensing tools available to support oil spill response, identified how those tools are being used in support of oil spill response actions, and was used as the foundational research to inform the following phases of the study. Phase Two used cloud-processing resources to establish an automated oil detection pipeline. Phase Three addressed human-driven barriers to remote sensing tool use identified in phase one through remote sensing tool training, knowledge coproduction, and remote sensing data integration into oil spill response exercises. Synthesizing all components of Phases One, Two and Three, a remote sensing protocol for the use of unmanned aircraft systems in support of oil spill response was developed and integrated into U.S. Coast Guard operational policy in Alaska to complete Phase Four of this research. This research identifies opportunities and solutions that support improved Arctic oil spill response decision-making through the application of remote sensing data and information.Chapter 1: General Introduction -- Chapter 2: Use and Barriers to Use of Remote-Sensing Tools in Arctic Oil Spill response -- Chapter 3: Cloud-based Oil Detection Processing Pipeline Prototype for C-band Synthetic Aperture Radar Data -- Chapter 4: Integrating Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems into Alaskan Oil Spill Response - Applied Case Studies and Operational Protocols -- Chapter 5: Protocol for Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) during an oil spill response or exercise -- Chapter 6: General Conclusion