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July 2005
LNG Modeling Efforts Continue at ASA
As more natural gas reserves are found in increasingly remote areas, a problem facing the gas industry is how to transport the gas to its end users. Historically, the most common mode of transportation has been through pipelines. However, with large transit distances involved, transport by ship to LNG terminals is the only cost effective alternative. In order to assess the potential consequences of LNG operations on the environment and human safety, ASA has focused on several LNG-related modeling efforts. These include the determination of spread and thermal radiation zones in the event of an LNG spill on water, and the potential effects on marine biota from both the construction and operation of offshore LNG facilities.
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Preliminary display of thermal radiation contours
predicted by LNGMAP.
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Consequence Analysis of
LNG Spills
ASA is now completing the alpha phase of LNGMAP, an LNG model to determine
fate and transport of LNG on the water surface and in the atmosphere,
as well as the extent of thermal radiation in the event of a fire. This
tool can be used to perform consequence analysis of LNG spills from offshore
LNG facilities, LNG tankers and pipelines
Entrainment and Impingement
of Marine Biota
A major operational issue for offshore LNG terminals is the technology
used for regasification. Open Rack Vaporization (ORV), the preferred method
to heat the LNG, uses the heat from seawater. When the cooled seawater
is discharged, it can sink to the bottom, potentially affecting benthic
species. Of more concern, however, is the entrainment and impingement
of marine biota in the seawater moving through the heating system. Since
large volumes of water are used, the loss of fish, as well as eggs and
larvae, can have an impact on population levels. ASA has been working
with the developers of proposed offshore LNG facilities to determine the
potential entrainment and impingement effects for specific species.
Construction Effects
The construction of both LNG terminals and their connecting pipelines
will impact the benthic communities in their vicinity. Benthos will be
directly affected in the footprints of these facilities and indirectly
in adjacent areas, particularly in the short term. ASA's analyses of both
sediment concentrations in the water column and the deposition patterns
generated by jet plows used to bury pipelines are providing quantitative
estimates of these impacts.
ASA and WeatherFlow Collaborate on GIS-Weather Tools
ASA
has been working with WeatherFlow (www.weatherflow.com)
to link to WeatherFlow's network of real-time weather stations and mesoscale
wind models. These weather stations are installed at meteorologically
strategic locations that fill gaps in the public data network thoughout
coastal locations of the United States, Canada, and most recently Mexico.
The operational regional meteorological wind models use advanced data
assimilation to provide high resolution forecasts for coastal regions.
WeatherFlow observational and model data provide a unique source of wind
and weather information for a variety of clients including the military,
commercial maritime industry, recreational boating community and the National
Weather Service. ASA's COASTMAP extension for ArcGIS 9.0 allows the WeatherFlow
observation and model data to be integrated in its native formats (GRIB,
NetCDF), for ArcGIS display, animation, analysis and linkage to other
data products and forecast models.
The concept of the Incident Command System (ICS) was developed more than
thirty years ago after wildfires burned over one-half million acres of Southern
California, killing 16 people and destroying 700 buildings. Criticism of
the response to the 1970 fires focused on the failure to provide leadership
in solving cooperation, command and control, communications and training
issues for responders. An interagency group was formed to address the problems
and ICS was born. Now when a natural event or terrorist attack occurs in
the U.S., the response and recovery are most often managed using the Incident
Command System because it provides the command structure necessary to quickly
assemble an effective response organization in a potentially chaotic emergency
situation. The ICS organizes personnel into a hierarchical structure so
that everyone knows his or her responsibilities as well as their place in
the organization. The ICS also facilitates the deployment and tracking of
response resources such as vessels, aircraft and rescue vehicles to multiple
locations in the response, and provides mechanisms for the management of
these resources through a cycle of work periods lasting days and sometimes
weeks. ICS contains the organizing principles, organizational structure,
operating and communications protocols and common terminology around which
emergency preparedness planning, response and recovery operations are based.
The map shows GIS information for the Tampa Bay area necessary to
assist planners and responders for emergency incidents. The form shows
the ICS organizational structure used in CMS.
In February 2003, the U.S. Homeland Security Presidential Directive 5 directed the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to develop and administer a nationwide system, called the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which provides a consistent approach for Federal, State and local governments to prepare for, respond to and recover from all domestic incidents. ICS forms the backbone of the NIMS, providing standards for management, terminology, span of control and communications during all phases of incident management. HSPD-5 also requires all Federal departments and agencies to adopt and use the NIMS in their incident management and emergency preparedness, response and recovery activities.
Government agencies at all levels use the ICS for a range of applications. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses ICS for managing the response and recovery from naturally occurring events such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. The Forest Service and the National Park Service have built their wildfire response and recovery operations around ICS. The US Coast Guard has been a leader in the adoption and use of ICS, applying it to hazardous materials spill response and recovery, and to search and rescue operations. ASA has implemented the Incident Command System in software systems used for crisis management by the US Coast Guard and international government agencies. Currently ASA is under contract to supply an ICS-based software system to the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for use in an ongoing port security exercise program at major port areas around the U.S. As emergency preparedness, response and recovery become more important to organizations in the US, ICS will become more widely used and accepted for incident management practices.
SARMAP & the Western Australian Police Service
The Western Australian Police Service have committed to adoption of the SARMAP system covering waters off the coast of Western Australia, which stretches for over 18,000 km. Asia Pacific ASA is customizing the system to include tidal and geostrophic current inputs as well as GIS data covering the state.
Antigua Barbuda Search and Rescue Utilize SARMAP in Rescue
Antigua Barbuda Search &
Rescue (ABSAR) uses SARMAP to assist in logistical support for missing
vessels in the waters surrounding Antigua and Barbuda. On 14 May, ABSAR
assisted in retrieving a Trans-Atlantic rower, James "Tiny"
Little, using SARMAP. The rower was caught in a current about 50 miles
NE of Antigua and running out of food. Although ABSAR had good communications
with Tiny, they used SARMAP to predict his drift so that the retrieval
vessel could plot an accurate course for intercept. The search team
found him within 1.5 miles of the predicted location.
During the first week of April, Kelly Knee delivered and conducted training for the OILMAP, CHEMMAP, and SARMAP ESRI ArcGIS extensions to the Rijkswaterstaat North Sea Directorate (RNSD) in Rijswijk, The Hague. RNSD is part of the Netherlands' Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management, and has, among others, a national responsibility (under the auspices of the Dutch Coast Guard) to coordinate all response activities in the event of a hazardous spill incident in or around the Dutch Continental Shelf. The extensions delivered integrate the capabilities of the ArcMap system with an interactive ability to generate and visualize time-varying environmental data and numerical model results.
Eoin Howlett provided an upgrade and training for SARMAP and OILMAP to the Isle of Man Coastguard. Eoin worked with Chief Coastguard Captain Colin Finney and the IT staff to integrate SARMAP with the Coastguard's new IT infrastructure.
Craig Swanson, Deborah French McCay and Jill Rowe attended the Providence River Dredging Project Research Wrap-up Workshop held at the US EPA offices in Narragansett, RI on 25 April. The purpose of the workshop was to present results of monitoring done during the recently completed Providence River dredging project, as well as additional monitoring at the Rhode Island Dump Site where the clean material from the dredging project was disposed. The findings showed that environmental impacts were within estimates made before the project started.
Craig Swanson represented
ASA at the Rhode Island Port Safety & Security Committee Meeting
held in Providence, RI on 27 April. The meeting, hosted by the Marine
Safety Office of the U.S. Coast Guard, focused on updating state and
federal agency representatives as well as the private sector on safety
and security issues for Rhode Island waters. 
Eoin Howlett was
an invited speaker at the 47th IASST International Meeting and Safety
Conference at the National Maritime College of Ireland (NMCI) in Cork.
Eoin presented information on the latest computer technologies being
used for marine search and rescue. Eoin also sampled some excellent
Irish Whisky at the local distillery.
Roddy Thomas and Eoin Howlett attended an EROCIPS (Emergency
Response to coastal Oil, Chemical and Inert Pollution from Shipping)
planning workshop in Dorchester at the Dorset County Council offices.
The Dorset emergency planning officer, Mr. Alan Hutchings, led the meeting
which included representatives from Devon, Pembrokeshire and Northern
Ireland.
Chris Galagan attended the US Coast Guard Innovation Expo 2-5 May in Santa Clara, CA. The Expo is an opportunity to see and discuss the latest technologies being developed within the Coast Guard and by private high-tech companies servicing the industry. A major theme of the conference this year was Domain Awareness, and Chris demonstrated ASA's search and rescue software system currently being developed for the Coast Guard.
Eoin Howlett attended
the Second Annual IOOS Implementation Conference hosted by Ocean.US in
Washington D.C. on 3-4 May. The meeting focused on "Setting National
Priorities for the Integrated Ocean Observing System" with sessions
on:
Deborah French McCay, Nicole Whittier, Eric Anderson, Eduardo Yassuda,
and Scott Langtry attended the 2005 International Oil Spill Conference
(IOSC), 15-19 May at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach,
FL. Debbie presented two papers and Nicole gave a poster presentation.
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On 23 May, Eduardo Yassuda was an invited speaker at the III SEMANES, state of Espirito Santo Environmental Workshop. The title of his presentation was "Geoprocessing Tools in Coastal Management Projects."
Eoin Howlett, Chris Galagan, and Guy DeWardener attended the 6th in-progress review (IPR) meeting for the US Coast Guard SAROPS project. The meeting was held at the National SAR School in Yorktown, VA on 24-25 May.
On 26 May, Sasha Zigic traveled to Melbourne to present the findings of a novel pilot dispersant modelling study to the stakeholders for Western Port Victoria. At the forum a number of agencies were represented along with ESSO Australia and community group leaders. The pilot study is to assist in decision making concerning the use of dispersant in the event of a spill.
Deborah French McCay attended the 2005 Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada 7-9 June. Debbie was scheduled to present "Use of Probabilistic Trajectory and Impact Modeling to Assess Consequences of Oil Spills with Various Response Strategies", but her flight was delayed, taking 32 hours to get to Calgary! Thankfully Dagmar Etkin from Environmental Research Consulting was able to step in and present for Debbie!
On 6-9 June, visiting University of Rhode Island Senior Researcher Eric Comerma, of Spain, attended the 4th EuroGOOS meeting in Brest on behalf of ASA. He presented "The Integration of Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) and Other Related Data in Support of a Range of Emergency Response Model Prediction Applications". Activities in Brazil, Australia and the US were summarized.
Matthew Hanna attended
an ESRI training course in Denver, Colorado on 8-11 June. The course
covered installing, administering, and programming for the ArcGIS Server
9.1.
On 10 June, ASA South America held its "I Professional Retreat", where the whole team went out on the white waters of the Juquitiba River, Brazil. After the morning rafting cruise, they discussed team and individual issues. Ronaldo Palmeira directed the barbecue project, with bartender Jose Edson.
In mid June, Eric Anderson traveled to Atyrau, Kazakhstan to
conduct OILMAP training and further develop environmental data inputs
with AGIP KCO personnel. ASA has been supporting this oil development
project in the North Caspian since 1998, when Shell Oil was in charge
of the project. Later a new oil company called OKIOC was formed, and
more recently the project lead has moved to AGIP.
Malcolm Spaulding
attended the LAPCOD conference in Lerici, Italy, 15-17 June. The conference
focused on the application of Lagrangian techniques to study ocean and
coastal systems. He presented a paper entitled "Application of
a random flight model in a search and rescue model system", co-authored
by Tatsu Isaji, Eoin Howlett, and Paul Hall from ASA and
Art Allen, US Coast Guard Search and Rescue Center.
Craig Swanson will be presenting a paper, "Southport Harbor Hydrodynamic and Pollutant Transport Modeling Study", at the 2005 TMDL conference of the Water Environment Federation, 26-29 June in Philadelphia. The paper will be presented in the session on Bacteria TMDL Modeling and Source Tracking, at 0830 on 28 June, and focuses on the use of backward tracking models to estimate source locations.
ECM 9 Updates: ECM9 will be held from 31 October to 2 November at the Double Tree Guest Suites in Charleston, SC. There have been a record 120 abstracts submitted for presentation at the 2 day meeting. Addtional information on the conference can be obtained at the conference website (www.oce.uri.edu/ecm9). Abstracts are available at the website and the conference program will be posted there later this summer.