Balloon‐Based Spill Surveillance System

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The council, in conjunction with the Oil Spill Recovery Institute of Cordova and BP's Crisis Management Unit have been working on the development of a promising new method of providing aerial observations during an oil spill. The surveillance technology uses a helium filled balloon carrying both infrared and conventional cameras tethered to a vessel. The spill balloon can be lofted 500 feet in the air and would supplement traditional aircraft over-flights during a response.

A demonstration of this system was conducted on April 25, 2011 in Valdez at the small boat harbor. An on water demonstration took place later that afternoon in Port Valdez. Photo: The balloon tethered to a vessel in Port Valdez.

Tethered Balloon Surveillance Demonstration (pdf)
Photos from the April 19 test in Cordova by the Oil Spill Recovery Institute. (Cordova photos by the Oil Spill Recovery Institute.)

A balloon-based oil spill surveillance system was purchased by the Prince William Sound Science Center in 2009 for the purpose of testing its applicability for oil spill surveillance. The original concept for the system was an output of a workshop titled "Hydrocarbon sensors for oil spill prevention and response," jointly sponsored by the Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI) and the Alliance for Coastal Technology.

A final report on this demonstration was approved by the council's board of directors in September: OSRI Balloon‐Based Spill Surveillance System Operations and Testing Results. This document focuses on the system owned by the Prince William Sound Science Center with discussion about other systems as applicable. There are other vendors of balloons and camera systems. Some additional information on alternative systems is provided in the section on selection criteria later in this document.

 

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