Fugro delivers Gulf of Mexico surface current data
Published by Angharad Lock,
Digital Assistant Editor
World Pipelines,
Fugro and Areté Associates have successfully delivered near real-time, synoptic, surface current data to characterise Loop Current and Loop Current eddy conditions in the US Gulf of Mexico during a period of intense current conditions.
The new Remote Ocean Current Imaging System (ROCIS) was deployed on its first operational project, in the US Gulf of Mexico. Over the course of the five-month programme, Fugro surveyed currents over a distance of more than 125 000 km.
ROCIS is the first commercially available system of its kind. Fugro and Areté Associates developed a system that uses a combination of digital camera technology and highly accurate positioning systems, together with advanced algorithms, to derive surface currents from wave spectra measurements. It can be installed on a suitable survey aircraft, together with an inertial navigation system augmented by Fugro’s Starfix® satellite positioning system.
Current data are reviewed in real-time on board the aircraft, providing continuous assessment of data quality and the location of strong currents.
The key technical features of ROCIS are the near synoptic, wide area, high resolution, high integrity surface current measurements. These allow sub-mesoscale circulation to be measured and monitored.
ROCIS services can be provided to single or multiple clients to monitor offshore current conditions over specific locations or a broad area. The system can also provide support in emergency situations such as oil spill and search and rescue, as well as in oceanographic research programmes.
Fugro and Areté Associates are working on further development of the ROCIS system and services, including the use of expendable probes and the incorporation of additional airborne sensors. In 2016 Fugro expects to add a second ROCIS unit to enhance its support of offshore operations.
Edited from press release by Angharad Lock
Read the article online at: https://www.worldpipelines.com/business-news/10022016/fugro-delivers-gulf-of-mexico-surface-current-data-2423/
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