Improving Situational Awareness Using a Comprehensive Surveillance Strategy

Abstract

ABSTRACT Having accurate, timely, and relevant situational awareness information is vital during an oil spill response to ensure informed operational and strategic decision making as well as effective coordination of field operations. Recent technological advancements have greatly enhanced situational awareness data collection capabilities such that numerous real-, or near real-time, data streams and inputs into the Incident Management Team are now possible. Although these advancements are generally beneficial, they can easily result in data overload and the subsequent burial or masking of critical information. This issue is compounded by the absence of standardized mechanisms or processes to assess and manage the data. Another area of concern is while surveillance is a key component of situational awareness, it is often comprised of random acts of surveillance rather than an objective driven, fit-for-purpose strategy. To address these issues, IPIECA, in coordination with the American Petroleum Institute (API), held stakeholder workshops in the United States and United Kingdom on situational awareness needs as well as the development of a comprehensive surveillance strategy. The results are being incorporated into an Oil Spill Surveillance Strategy technical support document currently under development by IPIECA. This paper will primarily focus on the key components of situational awareness as well as considerations for developing a comprehensive surveillance strategy. Additionally, it will discuss key findings of the workshops, exercise blind spots, data flow and timing, who should own the data collection process and other related topics.