Arctic Tracer Release Experiment (Arctrex); Applications for Mapping Spilled Oil in Arctic Waters

Publication Title: Arctic Tracer Release Experiment (Arctrex); Applications for Mapping Spilled Oil in Arctic Waters

Subject: Anthropogenic Properties; Physical Oceanography
oil spill tracking; dye release; oil spill; dispersion; Arctic Ocean; Chukchi Sea

CSE Reference: Winsor P, Simmons H, Chant R. 2017 (University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK, and Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ). Arctic Tracer Release experiment (ARCTREX); applications for mapping spilled oil in Arctic waters. Anchorage (AK): US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. 3 p. Obligation No.: M13AC00008. Report No.: OCS Study BOEM 2017-062. URL: https://espis.boem.gov/Technical%20Summaries/5642.pdf

Abstract: Oil exploration and increased shipping traffic in Arctic waters significantly elevate the risk of oil spills. The Arctic Tracer Release Experiment (ARCTREX) was designed to test the ability of available observational technology to sample a simulated oil spill in the Chukchi Sea and to transmit data to a shore-based, online emergency management application. During the ice-free seasons of 2014 and 2015, three releases of Rhodamine-WT dye were performed. During the field campaigns, data were transmitted to a version of NOAA’s Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA 2015) that is configured for the Arctic region, improving communication and coordination among responders and environmental stakeholders during future events. The diversity of environments and the extremely rough weather experienced during the field experiments allowed us to fully evaluate the performance of the instruments; the shipboard thermosalinograph and the towed undulating Acrobat vehicle are capable of tracking dye over time in great detail while being able to operate in stormy seas with significant wave heights approaching three meters. Dye was distributed throughout the surface mixed layer and, in one case, was subducted below the surface layer, requiring instruments capable of sustained subsurface measurements.