Severe Weather Impacting the Offshore Industry

Hans C. Graber and Michael J. Caruso Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) University of Miami

ESA Workshop on Satellite Earth Observation for the Oil and Gas Sector 14th - 15th September 2010, Frascati, Italy

1) Tropical storms and hurricanesstrong winds large waves strong currents

2) Eddiescurrent shear

3) Internal wavesstrong currents and shear

A Satellite Data Reception and Analysis Facility for Environmental Monitoring and Time Sensitive Tactical Applications in the Southeastern US, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Basin and Equatorial Atlantic

Sponsors: ONR, NASA, DIA, USSouthCom, NGA

Former U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Time Tracking Station

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CSTARS Focus on NRT Requirements

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24 x 7 Operation

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Delivery of Results Within Hours

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Advanced Technology (HW & SW)

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Extensive Coverage & Reduced Conflicts

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Remote, Rapid & Secure Access

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Hurricane Hardened Facility

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Redundant Systems

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Redundant Broadband Fiber Optic Link (OC-192)

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Backup Power for Continued Operation

E Pluribus Unum !Electro-Optical Sensor:

SPOT-4

(hi-res electro-optical visible)SPOT-5 (very hi-res electro-optical visible)ENVISAT-MERIS

(med-res electro-optical visible)ALOS-AVNIR2 (hi-res electro-optical visible)MODIS-TERRA/AQUA (med-res electro-optical visible)RapidEye*

(hi-res electro-optical visible)* in progress

Microwave SAR Sensor:RadarSat-1

(med-res microwave SAR) RadarSat-2 (very hi-res microwave SAR) ERS-2

(med-res microwave SAR) ENVISAT-ASAR

(med-res microwave SAR)ALOS-PALSAR (hi-res microwave SAR)TerraSAR-X (very hi-res microwave SAR) TanDEM-X

(very hi-res microwave SAR) Cosmo-SkyMed

(very hi-res microwave SAR)

Direct Downlink Capability of EO and SAR Satellite Systems

Large Visibility Mask

Global collections

Rapid Processing

Secure and fast access to data

Partnerships: CSTARS and Canadian Space Agency CSTARS and European Space Agency

Others could be included.

Provide near-real time SAR imagery for ocean weather state, response and recovery effort

Satellite image data critical and useful only when timely (i.e. in less than 3 -

6 hours)

Develop better CONOPS to react timely before, during and after storm event took place

Scatterometers provide wind fields on 25 km, even at 12.5 km grid, at best.

wind speed [ms ]-1

2 15

14.00o

12.00o

44.00o

45.00o

Not adequate to resolve typhoon eye and eye wall structure.

Courtesy of: Jochen Horstmann, NURC

wind speed [ms ]-1

2 15

14.00o

12.00o

44.00o

45.00o

SAR wind and wave field at 5 km, or even at 500 m.

wind speed [ms ]-1

2 15

14.00o

12.00o

44.00o

45.00o

Use SAR imagery to define storm characteristics in the inner core

Size and shape of eye

Storm position

Thickness of eye wall

Hi-res vector wind field

Radius of maximum wind

Oil spill assessment

Coherent change detection for damage assessment of infrastructure, bridges, roads

Westward shift of track Westward shift of track could have devastated oil could have devastated oil production and caused a production and caused a loss of 2.5 million loss of 2.5 million barrels/day and more.barrels/day and more.

Ivan’s Path of Destruction

RadarSat-1: 27 August 2005 RadarSat-1: 28 August 2005Leaving Florida Approaching New Orleans

ENVISAT ASAR Wind Analysis with radii circles

28 August 2005

Eye: 15 km

Eye Wall: 30 km

OceanViewTM

Ship detection program allows for detection of offshore platforms.

I:\MyStuff\CSTARS\SEASAT\SeaSat_197809271547.jpg

SEASAT27 September 1978

Wave Speed 0.8 –

1.1 m/s

Wavelength 0.3 –

0.7 km

Packet length 2 –

10 km

Along wave length 20 –

50 km

Packet separation 7 –

30 km

1 May 2007

Satellite observations are temporally and spatially relevant

Satellite SAR can provide new products such as high resolution wind and wave fields

New algorithms will allow detailed estimates of currents in eddies and internal waves from SAR images

Monitoring program is economical and technically feasible

Satellite data can be provided in near-real time (e.g. CSTARS delivered images and products within 1 hr for DeepWater

Horizon oil spill)