Airborne system measures ocean currents

In a project sponsored by the National Energy Technology Laboratory, Fugro and Arete Associates have developed and commercialized a system that enables the monitoring of ocean currents from the air, the U.S. Department of Energy announced on April 11. The system, which enables the measurement of surface current velocities in near real-time from an aircraft over a broad area, could be used as a rapid source of critical information for oceanographic research, and in emergency situations such as offshore oil spills and search and rescue missions, DOE said.

The system, called the Remote Ocean Current Imaging System, or ROCIS, has already seen its first operational use, covering a distance of 78,000 miles, monitoring conditions in the Gulf of Mexico during a period of intense currents. The system can survey ocean currents at 800-foot intervals over a track of 500 to 680 miles in four hours, a task that would otherwise take four surface vessels 24 hours to complete, DOE said.

ROCIS uses digital camera technology, highly accurate positioning systems and advanced image processing algorithms to use wave measurements to determine surface currents. Data are viewed immediately on the aircraft during data collection and then used to produce a “quick look” map when the aircraft lands. Subsequent full processing of the data takes a few hours.

Funding for the development project came from a research program authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and supported by lease bonuses and royalties paid by industry to produce oil and gas on federal lands, DOE said. The Research Partnership to Secure Energy for America, under contract to NETL, administers the program.

- ALAN BAILEY