Close to Realtime Information - The Improved Way of Managing Oil Spill Cleaning!

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1 Close to Realtime Information - The Improved Way of Managing Oil Spill Cleaning! AUTHORS Tor Gunnar Øverli, Asplan Viak Internet (Avinet). tgo@avinet.no Simen Slotta, Norwegian Coastal Administration, simen.slotta@kystverket.no Frode Skjævestad, Norwegian Coastal Administration, frode.skjaevestad@kystverket.no ABSTRACT Working with oilspill response is often a challenging task because of the complexity and quantity of information. There is an urgent need for information exchange between different parts of the response team and between different agencies involved. Field workers are in need of a detailed map for registration of oil on shore and the decision makers need to know where the oil has hit the shore as soon as it is registered in order to make the right prioritizing of equipment and crew. Using a standardized scheme for registration like the Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) ensures that relevant data is collected and pushed forward to the decision makers. If we can deal with these challenges in an efficient way, we will be more able to make a difference when organizing and conduct oilspill operations? Based on specification from and cooperation with the Norwegian coastal administration and Norwegian Clean Seas Association For Operating Companies Avinet has developed an application for collaboration and information exchange between people working on the shore and the operation headquarters. Using tablets and smartphones field workers will be use a custom made application for registering in the field and operation headquarters will use a web-based application to track all registrations, make statistics, reports and also have the possibility to make work orders, descriptions of work and other relevant information both to field workers and other people and agencies involved in the operation on different level. This paper describes how a new application and new technology can make the operation more efficient, collaborative and verifiable. Keywords Oil spill, SCAT, operations, Norwegian Coastal Administration, NOFO. INCIDENTS Incidents happen! In Norway, in recent years, two major incidents causing oilspill happened in 2009 and The total cost for shoreline cleaning from oilspill was about 46 million USD. The Norwegian coastline is total km. Along this coast, every day, a large amount of ships are passing by. The illustration shows ship movements for one month, July

2 2013, captured from AIS data and visualised via the Norwegian Coastal Administration web-map tool Adaptive. At any time, more than 2200 vessels are sailing along our coastline. There is no question, incidents will happen again along such long and stormy coastline. SCAT The Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) is a methodology for systematic survey of an area affected by oilspill to provide geo-referenced documentation of shoreline conditions, information on site features that may affect the logistics of response operation and recommendations on appropriate response. Designed SCAT forms are used to provide the information and develop real-time decisions and expedite treatment planning and response operations. Information elements found in SCAT includes; Shore substrata - defined by its characters for oil cleanup and not ecological characters. Typical characteristics are; o Bedrock o Stable boulders o Mobile boulders o Solid seawalls o Revetment o Coarse sediment o Mobile sand o Stable sand o Clay o Stable mixed substrata o Firm muddy sand o Soft mud Operational features Surface oiling Subsurface oiling The forms are supported by sample illustrations. Pictures and sketches may be added. For georeferencing, paper maps are normally used, marking on the map the location of a registration. MAP-BASED EMERGENCY HANDLING SYSTEM The emergency handling system consists as descried above of two main modules, a web based "Action" module and an app for fieldwork "Strand" module. The app is developed for Android platform.

3 SCAT forms have been digitised and made available in both modules. The geometry is registered as segments, following the shoreline. The app works fully offline, synchronising data when online. The diagram below shows the main components of the solution. In addition to the two client solutions already described (the web based "Action module" and the app-based "Strand module"), there is also an Administrator client. The Administrator client enables the system administrator at the Norwegian Coastal Administration to manage incidents and accidents, define users and their roles, add or change data content and recall history. Adaptive is the core solution for the system. It is both a freestanding solution for web-based maps but also a platform for system development. Its client interface is built on OpenLayers and Sencha ExtJS. On the server side, Adaptive and the solution is running MapServer for maps and Lucene search engine, both open-source components. All data are stored via PostgreSQL/PostGIS database and filestorage (media files). A broad range of external data sources are supported, including WMS and WMS tiles, WFS, AIS and SQL databases. The main feature is "Segment". A segment is a part of the shoreline that can be described in a common way with respect to oil spill. Information that may be registered on a segment includes; If the shoreline has been inspected or not.

4 Close to Realtime Information - The Improved Way of Is there any oil registered on the shoreline (if the oil spill covers more than the shoreline itself, a polygon can also be registered, e.g. for a beach). Work orders related to clean-up process The "Aksjon-module" enables the management team to create work orders and monitor the status of these. Reports can be generated with statistics and key indicators. Through the administrator tool, information available for the public or press is determined. This may for instance include showing status of oil spill and clean-up processes. The app has multiple functions included for supporting the fieldwork. It uses the in-built GPS of its mobile tool for navigation but enables tracing of the shoreline for accurate segment determination. The SCAT forms are supported by images or videos taken by the mobile tool and linked directly to the segments. The app operates on any Android app based tool, including tablets and mobile phones. The Norwegian Coastal Administration has purchased waterproof tablets for the fieldwork and can easily acquire more if needed.

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