ARGUS RADAR SYSTEM Oil Spill Detection Addendum English
Record of changes Rev. Date Change requested by A March 1, 2012 N.A. First issue Purpose of change 988-10189-001 2 Rev. A
Table of contents Chapter 1 OIL SPILL DETECTION... 4 1.1 Introduction... 4 1.1.1 Automatically modified settings when enabling Oil Spill Detection mode... 5 1.2 Oil spill detection window data, main page... 6 1.3 Oil spill detection window data, Extra page... 9 1.4 Utilisation procedure of the Oil Spill detection function... 11 988-10189-001 3 Rev. A
1.1 Introduction Chapter 1 OIL SPILL DETECTION The oil spill detection mode is a special function that allows monitoring a potential spill of petroleum from oil rig platforms or damaged ships during sea clutter conditions and to intervene using radar so that all necessary information can be received to carry out the oil recovery operation. To use this function successfully will require that certain meteorological conditions are met: no rain in the reception area, reasonable sea conditions without being too rough and no fog. When the OSD mode is disabled, the radar behaves like any normal, approved navigational radar system. In OSD mode, certain important navigational functions are disabled; such as the anti-rain/anti-sea processing videos, the Scan to Scan and Sweep to Sweep Correlation, the Target Enhancement function and the Trails. The wind sensor window is always in view until no menu is open, whether in OSD On or OSD Off, because it constitutes an important indication with regards to the wind direction and consequently, the possible direction the patch of oil may take. 1 2 3 5 4 6 8 7 5 Main menu with Oil Spill Detection mode On 988-10189-001 4 Rev. A
1.1.1 Automatically modified settings when enabling Oil Spill Detection mode 1) Trails The Trails function cannot be used with the Oil Spill Detection mode enabled, therefore it is automatically disabled. 2) Target Vector The vectors are initially set to TRUE and the time period to 60 minutes to visualise the potential vector of the patch of oil. This initial setting is made on the hypothesis that the patch of oil undergoes a relatively low shift over a period of time and that the vector in its original setting is not sufficiently visible. The operator can manually modify this value according to requirements. 3) Rain The Rain function cannot be utilised with the Oil Spill Detection mode enabled, therefore it is automatically disabled. 4) Sea The Sea function cannot be utilised with the Oil Spill Detection mode enabled, therefore it is automatically disabled. 5) Sweep To Sweep and Target Enhancement (elements from the Interference Rejection list) The Sweep to Sweep and Target Enhancement functions cannot be utilised with the Oil Spill Detection mode enabled, therefore they are automatically disabled. 6) Scan To Scan Correlation The Scan to Scan function cannot be utilised with the Oil Spill Detection mode enabled, therefore it is automatically disabled. 7) Range Scale The Range Scale function is limited to a maximum of 12 NM / 20 Km with the Oil Spill Detection mode enabled and the Unit of Measure can be changed to Km (or mt) by carrying out the following procedure: a) Position the cursor on the message Range or on the value of the scale; in the Help line appears the message Km. b) Press the left button of the Trackball. All values expressed in NM, such as the VRM, the distance of the cursor and the distance of the selected targets automatically change to the Unit of Measure expressed in Km. Repeat the above procedure to change back to the distances and scales expressed in NM. N.B. The Unit of Measure can be modified also with the Oil Spill Detection mode disabled. 988-10189-001 5 Rev. A
8) North Up When entering the Oil Spill Detection mode, the orientation of the radar is automatically set to North Up. 1.2 Oil spill detection window data, main page 8 9 1 7 2 3 6 4 Oil spill detection window data, main page 5 1) OSD Thrs Utilising the right and left button of the Trackball to shift the progress bar, the setting threshold of the palette s colour of the radar video within the monitoring window of the oil patch can be modified. This threshold heavily influences the identification of the patch in the clutter and also the calculation of the surface area of the patch. The position of the yellow arrow positioned above the colour scale indicates the setting of the threshold and the palette of colours of the monitoring window changes on the basis of this colour scale which more or less permits the highlighting of the patch of oil. Example of the display with the threshold tending towards the minimum value. Example of the display with the threshold tending towards the maximum value. 988-10189-001 6 Rev. A
2) Contour Enabling this control, it is possible to change the palette of the video within the oil spill monitoring window to highlight only the external edges of the patch of oil. Example of the display in Contour mode. 3) Integration To obtain a better detection of the oil patch, enable and adjust the integration time. The greater the integration time, the greater the identification within the clutter will be, because it will increase the contrast between the oil patch and the clutter. To appreciate the effect of integration, it is necessary to wait the preset time. 4) Re-center This key is enabled only in Search mode and permits the repositioning of the monitoring window in the centre of the PPI, if it has shifted outside the screen in Anchored mode. 5) Anchored Mode In this mode the oil spill monitoring window will remain anchored to its geographical position. 6) Search Mode In this mode the monitoring window maintains its position in consideration of the ship. N.B. The Search and Anchored modes are exclusive to each other. 988-10189-001 7 Rev. A
7) Spot Area Expressed in m 2 / Km 2, Spot Area indicates the extended surface of the oil patch. It is calculated by the system and corresponds to the dark blue and red zone within the monitoring window. 8) Volume A value expressed in barrels, Volume indicates the presumed volume of oil that has spread. Its value depends on the thickness of the oil patch set by the operator. 9) Oil Thickness Oil thickness is the presumed thickness of the patch of oil; this must be set manually. The value entered is necessary to calculate the volume of the patch of oil. 988-10189-001 8 Rev. A
1.3 Oil spill detection window data, Extra page 4 5 3 1 2 1) Pulse Length In OSD On mode, the transmission pulse length can only be set manually and is then no longer connected to the set range. Pressing this key, the transmission pulse can be modified from short to medium and vice versa. 2) Data recording The following data can be recorded regarding the patch of oil: Area Date and hour of the data acquisition Geographical position of the patch s barycentre Speed and direction Whilst plotting manually, these data are constantly updated, but if the plotting of the patch has not been enabled, the geographical position, speed and direction data of the patch will make no sense. 988-10189-001 9 Rev. A
3) USB Share Pressing the USB Share key, the USB storage menu appears on the screen. The data recorded in the system (System Oil Data) is shown in the left column and the data memorised in the USB pen drive (USB Oil Data) is shown in the right column. Selecting one or more files from the left column and then pressing the right arrow key, the selected files are transferred into the USB pen drive s memory in the /selux/osd/ folder. 4) Rec/Stop Recording controls are regulated by the Rec/Stop keys. N.B. It is important to remember pressing the Stop key at the end of each recording. 5) Recording time Recording time indicates the temporal progress of the current recording. 988-10189-001 10 Rev. A
1.4 Utilisation procedure of the Oil Spill detection function (A) (B) Having reached an area containing a suspected oil spill: - Enable the Oil Spill Detection mode. - Position the monitoring window within the clutter zone. - Once the patch of oil has been identified, shift and re-dimension the window to define it. - To carry out the shifting of the monitoring window, position the cursor at the left extremity of the window (A) to effectuate the re-dimensioning of the same. Position the cursor at the extremity in the bottom right hand corner (B) and drag the corner keeping the left button of the Trackball pressed. - Enable the Anchored mode. - Utilise the threshold controls (1.3, point1) and integration (1.2, point 3) to identify the patch of oil as best as possible. - Once the barycentre of the patch of oil has been identified approximately, click on it with the left button of the Trackball to mark the first point (made visible by a flashing symbol) - Once the first point has been marked and starts flashing, the countdown phase starts for the next update (1.3, point 5). After 5 minutes, the operator is advised to carry out a new update. If the barycentre is at the same point as before, do not carry out a new update until it shifts. The 988-10189-001 11 Rev. A
previous marking remains in the memory in the form of a flashing point (during the plotting phase, it is possible to mark up to a maximum of 16 preceding points). From the second plotted point onwards, the vector of the patch of oil can be determined. - At this point, the recording of data can be effectuated by pressing the REC key. Do not carry out this operation before having plotted the barycentre at least once. During the plotting phase of the patch of oil, it is important not to change the visualisation scale too much, otherwise a loss of history could occur regarding the integration (1.2, point 3) of the image and the monitoring window could disappear from the screen if the scale is reduced. The red flashing message OIL SPILL DETECTION AREA OUT OF SCREEN indicates this error status. N.B. Without plotting the patch, there is no recording of the values, such as position, speed and direction of the patch of oil. *988-10189-001* 988-10189-001 12 Rev. A