Field Evaluation of a Wireless Electronic Shoreline Cleanup Support System

Abstract

ABSTRACT A prototype system was designed and assembled to electronically support all the steps involved in the cleanup phase of an oil spill response, from field data acquisition to decision making at a command post. The system included satellite communication, wireless Local Area Networks (LANs), Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and computerized Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team (SCAT) support software. Field data entry was done using a penpad linked to a wearable computer, including (1) creation of electronic shoreline oiling summary diagrams with the help of a GIS; (2) completion of electronic SCAT forms; (3) exact positioning of oil patches and other spatial information with a differential Global Positioning System (DGPS); and (4) recording of images with a video camera. Information from the field was transmitted through a wireless LAN to a portable computer, which relayed the data via satellite communication to a central facility where information was integrated and analyzed for decision making. The system was evaluated during a number of field trials with personnel from the Bureau of Emergencies Response (state of Florida), normally involved in oil spill response. The evaluation demonstrated that (1) a stand-alone system, including differential GPS capability, was optimal to support SCAT activities in the field; (2) the setup and operation of a wireless LAN was both cumbersome and not worth the improvement in peiformance (reduced transfer time), particularly due to the necessity of deploying unwieldy directional antennas; (3) a major limitation was that the wearable computer's display was not visible under bright sunlight; (4) communication by wireless LAN and satellite network proved feasible, but too difficult to do routinely; (5) the use of computerized software tools in combination with detailed base maps (digital orthoquads) proved to be a huge improvement over the use of pen and paper; (6) the use of an all-electronic environment substantially shortened the length of time necessary to produce decision maps.