Langley Research Center
Alaska Disasters
Double Double Oil and Trouble

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News Reporter 1 [not pictured]: Investigators believe a link in a crude oil...
News Reporter 2 [not pictured]: Explosion Occured at an oil well...
News Reporter 3 [not pictured]: Department of the environment is looking into a...
News Reporter 4 [not pictured]: Cleanup of the oil spill continues on the Santa Barbara Coast
News Reporter 5 [not pictured]: Oil continues to impact sea and...
News Reporter 6 [not pictured]: The pipeline that leaked thousands of gallons of oil...
News Reporter 7 [not pictured]: Oasis Petroleum is the responsible party...

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[Kai Engel "Dancing on the Edge" Music Starts]

Will: The decrease in arctic ice cover associated with global climate change has stimulated maritime travel 
	and offshore oil exploration along Alaska’s northern coast. In May of 2015 the United States government 
	conditionally approved energy exploration in Northern Alaska. This increase in traffic elevates the risk 
	of oil spills with operations withstanding long periods of darkness, lack of support infrastructure, and 
	severe environmental conditions. Further, the degradation of hydrocarbons is slow in polar ecosystems, 
	thus an oil spill off the northern coast of Alaska will result in prolonged environmental damage. 
	In an effort to augmet the oil detection process, our team at NASA Langley Research Center has partnered
	WITH THE United States Coast Guard, Office of Marine Environmental Response Policy and the National
	Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Response and Restoration.  As the lead emergency 
	response agency for oil spills in U.S. navigable waterways, the US Coast Guard requires immediate access to
	geographic and spectral data for strategic oil spill response planning. 

Amy: The Alaska Disasters team looked to decrease response time for oil and increase monitoring capability. In an effort to 
	expand monitoring capabilities, our team georeferenced data cited in historical literature to establish 
	baseline information about known and possible oil seeps. This allows the Coast Guard to rule out anthropogenic 
	sources of reported oil spills. The dataset was injected into the interactive Arctic Emergency Response Management
	Application, to facilitate fast visualization and coordination for emergency responders. This static map 
	provides concise latitude and longitude of all identified natural Alaskan oil seeps in an effective way to track 
	and retrieve data for review. This information can be updated as needed and displayed in order to allow the 
	disaster response team to better pinpoint the source of reported arctic oil. 

Jordan: Due to the complexity of the study area, remotely sensing the presence of oil in an ice-infested region is 
	difficult due to high cloud cover, extended darkness, and challenges in distinguishing oil from its surrounding 
	environment.  Therefore, to efficiently identify oil requires a variety of sensors across the electromagnetic 
	spectrum, which are often entangled in a lengthy downloading process. To expedite the oil detection process, the 
	Alaska Disasters team created a python-based tool that allows a user to specify a location and a date range in 
	order to easily pull satellite data for the area of interest. 

Kristen: Both products created by the Alaska Disasters team are essential for the reduction of emergency response time in 
	 the Arctic environment. Because of the physical properties of the region, oil released in icy waters presents a 
	 unique challenge as it often becomes trapped under or inside of the ice. Oil spills in the environment are extremely 
	 hazardous to animals and is associated with a high mortality rate, with many animals dying from hypothermia, 
	 poisoning, or drowning. Because of the residence time of the hydrocarbons and the severity of oil’s impact on this 
	 highly productive ecosystem, it is essential to equip emergency response teams with technology that facilitate a 
	 speedy response. The NASA DEVELOP Summer 2015 Alaska Disasters project has enabled the US Coast Guard to be 
	 uniquely prepared for challenges imposed by the arctic environment. 

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