Bulletins

On July 17, after an official review from the Maritime Safety Administration (MSA) of Guangxi , the Guangxi Beibu Gulf Oil Spill Emergency Warning Information System was officially put into use. The system is designed to provide decision support capabilities for oil spills, including accurate and efficient oil spill predictions integrated with environmental forecasts.

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ASA developed a new Operational Marine Forecasting and Warning System launched by the Dubai Municipality which provides not only forecasts about waves, currents and wind, but also oil spills that could hinder the movement of ships.

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The State of Rhode Island is currently undertaking an initiative to facilitate siting and development of terrestrial renewable energy facilities, in part through the development of comprehensive renewable energy facility siting standards and guidelines. The project is funded by the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources, and supported by the RI Division of Planning and the University of Rhode Island (URI).

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ASA is pleased to announce that we have joined the RPS Group. There will be no changes to ASA’s management and personnel in Rhode Island and we will also maintain our long-term business relationships with ASA Latin America and Asia Pacific ASA. The cultures of ASA and RPS are very similar with a priority on personal client interactions and creative solutions. By combining the talents and expertise of ASA with the global reach of RPS, the combined team offers advanced environmental, energy, planning, science and technology services to our geographically diverse clients.

RPS is one of the world’s pre-eminent consulting firms, employing more than 4,500 people internationally and providing advice on subjects ranging from the exploration of energy, development of land and property to the management of environment and health of people. RPS has offices in the U.S, UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Canada, Australia/Asia Pacific and undertakes projects in many other parts of the world.

>> Click here to visit our global website

On 20 October, APASA was presented with the Dermott McManus Award for outstanding achievement in the field of innovation export at The Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards 2011 held at the Brisbane Convention Center. The winner of this award is chosen by a panel of 16 judges based on a detailed and extensive set of criteria. APASA competed with companies from fields such as engineering, technology, manufacturing and production.

In addition to this prestigious award APASA was also a finalist for the Small Business Award for the second year in a row.

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An extensive investigation conducted by the Joint Investigation Team of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE), formerly the Minerals Management Service (MMS), and the United States Coast Guard have released a final report that has identified a number of causes of the Macondo blowout (i.e. the April 20, 2010 well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico).

>> Click here for the report

ASA developed the CMSP portal using a highly customized ArcGIS viewer with Adobe Flex. The interactive mapping site contains information and tools relevant to coastal and marine decision making. ASA assisted in cartographic presentation of the data layers as well as data development.

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In June 2011 ASA and QUALITAS Remos signed a cooperative agreement to team on ocean technology projects in Europe. QUALITAS is a leader in providing technical solutions and scientific analysis for issues in environmental protection and marine operations.

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In April of 2011, the Shannon Estuary Anti-Pollution Team (SEA-PT) launched the OilmapWeb system, a web-based version of OILMAP for oil spill response planning and training.

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Nine Rhode Island municipalities along the east side of Narragansett Bay have joined in forming the East Bay Energy Consortium (EBEC). EBEC contracted ASA to evaluate the technical and economic feasibility of developing wind energy projects and advise on the logistical challenges facing the consortium.

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The workshop summarized modeling approaches and results for evaluations of spill consequences for applications ranging from cost-benefit analyses of spill prevention measures and prioritization of risks for policy development, to quantification of environmental salvage rewards.

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ASA is part of the development team for the Ocean Observatories Initiative Cyberinfrastructure (OOICI) lead by University of California San Diego (UCSD). One of several notable academic and industry partners on the project, ASA is unique among them in that it is integrated into core positions on the development team. The cyberinfrastructure effort based at UCSD is part of the larger OOI, a National Science Foundation project.

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The town of Hull has been selected as one of three national recipients of NOAA's 2010 Walter B. Jones Memorial Awards for Excellence in Local Government. Hull was chosen to receive this prestigious award for its outstanding efforts at local management of coastal hazards. As a StormSmart Coasts pilot community, Hull is working with CZM to improve management of coastal development to reduce the risk of people and property from coastal hazards.

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The Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi (EAD) has launched its Coastal Resources Atlas and Vulnerability Index (‘Coastal Atlas’), a pioneering new resource detailing the Emirate of Abu Dhabi's coastline and waters. The Coastal Atlas is designed to aid local policy-making and coastal development planning, as well as inform and educate people interested in the Emirate's rich marine biodiversity. ASA was the lead developer on this project, click here to view the Coastal Atlas.

>> Thabit Zahran Al Abdessalaam's Presentation
>> Press Release

ASA’s Deborah French McCay will be a witness for the Commerce, Science and Transportation Senate Hearings discussing the Response Efforts to the Gulf Coast Oil Spill. The hearings can be viewed live on C-SPAN and the digital archive of the C-SPAN coverage can be viewed here. The hearing begins at 2:30pm (EDT) on 18 May. For further details on the hearing visit the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation’s website. To see a video highlighting Dr French McCay's presenation click here.

ASA is supporting NOAA’s oil spill natural resource damage assessment team of the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) and is coordinating with NOAA on environmental, chemical and biological data collection. ASA also supports the United States Coast Guard with the Environmental Data Server (EDS) that aggregates meteorological and oceanographic conditions that are used for forecast modeling.

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Working in collaboration with the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership, ASA has developed a tool to use the power of Google Search to find science data served with OGC WMS and KML.

ASA presented at SPILLCON 2010, the International Oil Spill Prevention & Preparedness Conference. SPILLCON 2010 was held in Melbourne, Australia, 12-16 April. Brian King presented “Trajectory modeling for the Australian national Plan” and Trevor Gilbert presented “Maritime Oil and HNS Spill Risk Assessment Technologies”. These presentations can be viewed from the SPILLCON 2010 website at:
- Brian King's Presentation
- Trevor Gilbert's Presentation

ASA recently joined the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) to work with other industry, academic and government organizations to advance the vision of consensus standards that promote the integration and use of geospatial data and services. One of our goals for collaborating with OGC is to deliver science-based solutions more quickly and cost effectively to our clients.

Eoin Howlett participated in the Space-Time Modeling and Analysis Workshop at Redlands GIS Week 2010, 22-23 February in Redlands, California. Eoin co-authored a presentation Tools to integrate time-varying data in ArcGIS with Roy Mendelssohn and Cara Wilson from NOAA, and Robert Netsch from the United States Coast Guard.

Dr. CJ Beegle-Krause, Dr. Deborah French McCay, and Chris Galagan will instruct a pre-conference workshop that will provide an overview of a variety of spill case histories with discussion of the science that governs how spills behave. Observations discussed include overflight maps, beach surveys and simple oceanographic sampling. Different types of trajectory modeling will be demonstrated, including working with multiple (stochastic) trajectory simulations. Students will learn the basics of how to put together a spill timeline from the past to the present and into the future using field information and predictions, and how to integrate results with GIS applications such as ArcView® and Google Earth.

On June 12, 2009, President Obama sent a memorandum to the heads of executive departments and federal agencies establishing an Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by the White House Council on Environmental Quality. The Task Force is charged with developing a recommendation for a national policy that ensures protection, maintenance, and restoration of oceans, our coasts and the Great Lakes. It will also recommend a framework for improved stewardship, and effective coastal and marine spatial planning. On 24 September, Lauren Decker, Lee Dooley, Kelly Knee, and Christin Reynolds, attended the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force Public Meeting held in Providence, RI. ASA gave specific recommendations to close the gap between science and policy through public private partnerships related to marine spatial planning, eco-system based management, and data integration to the Task Force representatives along with testimony from other private, public, and non-profit organizations.

ASA's CJ Beegle-Krause was interviewed by the New York Times for an interesting article about Lagrangian coherent structures. She also brought in Search and Rescue expert Art Allen of the U.S. Coast Guard to contribute to the story. Very interesting piece on front page of the New York Times Science section. (www.nytimes.com/pages/science).

Applied Science Associates (ASA) has enabled public access to real-time data from the Alaska Ocean Observing System (AOOS) Sound Predictions 2009 Prince William Sound (PWS) experiment through Google Earth. ASA has integrated data from PWS experiment's ocean observing systems and models to create Google Earth KML files which are hosted using Amazon cloud computing. Amazon S3 storage enables efficient distribution of large datasets by dividing the work among computers based in data centers around the globe. From July 19-Aug 3, the experimental scientific collaborative will be evaluating regional forecast models for their effectiveness in predicting wind, waves, and ocean circulation in Prince William Sound. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), gliders, and drifters will be used to roam Prince William Sound in an effort to collect scientific data in the 2-week field test called Sound Predictions 2009 (www.aoos.org).

ASA has been added to the Dewberry and Davis team that holds a contract with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Services Center (CSC). The Coastal Geospatial Services Contract (CGSC) is an Architectural and Engineering Contract vehicle to provide geospatial services. As well as a support contract for NOAA, this contract is also available to other federal, state, and local agencies through Memorandums of Understanding and offers a variety of geospatial services.

ASA is on a team of companies lead by ERG that was recently awarded a contract with the US EPA to provide technical support services to its office of Oceans and Coastal Protection Division (OCPD). OCPD is one of three divisions within the EPA Office of Wetlands, Ocean, and Watersheds and it operates under major environmental legislation, such as the Clean Water Act, and under international treaties such as MARPOL. OCPD has the responsibility to manage and oversee programs intended to protect the oceans, estuaries and coastal waters of the US. The OCPD mission is to protect human health and the environment, reduce risk to human and aquatic life from pollutants, and restore and maintain the environmental benefits and uses of water bodies and their surrounding environments.

ASA's Christin Reynolds and Melanie Schroeder attended the "Northeast Regional Workshop on Marine Spatial Planning" on 8-9 June in Warwick, Rhode Island. With growing human ocean uses, changing climates and habitats marine spatial planning could provide a framework to minimize conflicts, protect ecologies and plan for strong ocean economies. The workshop was hosted by The Nature Conservancy, Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Attendees included several federal and state government marine policy and resource managers, as well as non-government and academic research scientists. Workshop activities included break-out sessions and work groups discussing regional data availability and overall goals of marine spatial planning. Guest speakers included U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Grover Fugate (RI CRMC), and Bruce Carlisle (MA CZM).

ASA has acknowledged World Oceans Day on June 8 and will celebrate all this week. The United Nations General Assembly decided that, as from 2009, 8 June would be designated by the United Nations as “World Oceans Day” (resolution 63/111, paragraph 171). The concept for World Oceans Day was proposed in 1992 by the Government of Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and it had been unofficially celebrated every year since then. Official designation by the U.N. is a significant step in conserving and protecting our world's ocean.

The 1st Annual Matunuck Eco Concert was held on May 20, 2009 at Theater by the Sea with live musical performances by the Matunuck Elementary School Chorus to benefit Save the Bay (Narragansett Bay). The environmentally conscious fundraiser was the brainchild of 5th grader Cameron Burke and featured the music of Jack Johnson. The event was sponsored by Applied Science Associates (ASA).

The ASA biological team headed by Deborah French McCay, presented a poster outlining the ESVI modeling approach at the Rhode Island Natural History Survey’s 13th Annual Conference on 23 April in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. The conference was titled “Rhode Island’s Off-Shore Marine Ecosystem and the Potential Impacts of Energy Development.”

On March 11, Cyclone Hamish whipped up seas off the Queensland coast as the cargo ship Pacific Adventurer lost 250 tons of oil as 31 shipping containers packed with ammonium nitrate fertilizer slipped from its decks in the rough weather. Some of the 20 foot metal shipping containers punched holes in the cargo ship's hull, allowing its bunker fuel oil to spill into the sea and eventually wash up on beaches nearby onshore.

Asia-Pacific ASA's response was immediate, delivering an oil spill prediction to AMSA (Australian Maritime Safety Authority) within 74 minutes of notification (deadline was 90 minutes). Using OILMAP™, ASA's first prediction was spot on.

The Town of Portsmouth, Rhode Island erected and commissioned the state's second utility-scale, megawatt-sized wind turbine. The small town is recognized as a successful model in municipal sustainable energy projects that can offset rising town budgets and provide clean energy at the same time. Many people in the state, including ASA's wind energy expert, Daniel Mendelsohn, who worked on the project, applaud Portsmouth's leadership and commitment in perusing alternative energy solutions at the municipal level.

With only oars to power him, Paul Ridley attempts a historic solo trans-Atlantic expedition for the cause of cancer research, as he rows for 10-12 hours per day with little help coming from anything more than favorable ocean currents and wind direction. When the wind, waves, and currents don't cooperate, the journey called Row for Hope, becomes more challenging and uncertain. ASA's SARMAP and EDS: Environmental Data Server-a combination of search and rescue technology and real-time and forecast ocean data system was voluntarily used by Jonathan Cornelius, of Antigua Barbuda Search and Rescue (ABSAR), to look at possible drift scenarios for family and friends who are anxiously awaiting Paul's landing in Antigua.

ASA's EDS: Evironmental Data Server and SAROPS are highlighted in this Scientific American Ask the Experts Interview.

To find out how authorities go about finding those lost at sea or in other vast waters, ScientificAmerican.com spoke with Art Allen, a physical oceanographer with the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Search and Rescue and lead collaborator with ASA on the development of SAROPS: Search & Rescue Optimal Planning System.

On 20 October, APASA was presented with the Dermott McManus Award for outstanding achievement in the field of innovation export at The Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards 2011 held at the Brisbane Convention Center. The winner of this award is chosen by a panel of 16 judges based on a detailed and extensive set of criteria. APASA competed with companies from fields such as engineering, technology, manufacturing and production.

In addition to this prestigious award APASA was also a finalist for the Small Business Award for the second year in a row.

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The long-awaited report into the Montara oil spill off the north coast of WA last year is to give more ammunition to the Gillard Government's push for an overhaul of regulations covering the booming oil and gas industry. The findings of the Montara Commission of Inquiry, to be released by Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson this week, are also likely to raise serious questions about the operations of the Thai-owned company involved in the disaster and criticise drilling safety procedures in the lead-up to the incident.

Three scientific studies commissioned by PTTEP Australasia, the company behind last year's Montara oil disaster off the Kimberley coast, has found that no oil reached Australian or Indonesian shores and most of the oil stayed in Australian waters. The reports have been criticised by conservation groups for contradicting earlier evidence on the size and area of the oil slick.

The company being sued over last year's Montara oil spill claims environmental reports back its claims no oil reached the Indonesia coast. Thai-owned PTTEP is being pursued by the Indonesian government for $2.4 billion in compensation over the spill. Oil and condensate poured into the Timor Sea for 74 days after the Montara wellhead blew out in August last year.

Winners and finalists in the 21st annual Premier of Queensland's Export Awards celebrated tonight in Brisbane, recognising the contribution that exporters make to the State's economy. Premier Anna Bligh presented the awards and said that this year's winners and finalists list formed part of the honour roll of companies doing business globally. "Companies from across Queensland were on show tonight - celebrating the success of our exporters from Mt Isa to the Gold Coast. "In 2009-10 the value of Queensland's merchandise exports were worth more $42.7 billion dollars to Queensland's economy," Ms Bligh said.

At approximately 5.30 a.m. Australian Western Standard Time (AWST) on Friday 21 August 2009, the Montara Wellhead Platform located 140 nautical miles (approximately 260 kilometres) offshore from the northwest Australian coast had an uncontrolled release of hydrocarbons from one of the platform wells. Consequently oil and produced formation water escaped from the riser on the platform then onto the surface and significant gaseous hydrocarbons escaped into the atmosphere. The oil spill resulted in the activation of the National Plan, managed by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

On April 3^rd, 2010 the coal carrier Shen Neng 1 grounded at Douglas Shoal, in the middle of the Great Barrier Reef. The ship sustained damage during and after the grounding which resulted in some oil pollution. Within 20 minutes of the grounding the APASA RESPONSE duty officer had been activated and was running trajectory modelling in order to determine the fate and trajectory of the released oil. The APASA RESPONSE personnel assisted the client (the Australian Maritime Safety Authority) with the response for the Shen Neng 1 for over a month by providing 4 trajectory bulletins a day (for the first week), a comparison of possible Places of Refuge and 3D fates modelling.

On August 21^st, 2009 the Montara well head platform in the Timor Sea suffered a blow-out resulting in oil, gas and condensate being released into the sea. APASA RESPONSE was tasked with trajectory modelling and oil spill forecasts were issued from day one. Ongoing spill forecast bulletins were required and issued to the client (AMSA and DEHWA) using OILMAP and various forecast datasets to develop a “consensus forecast” of what was expected to occur. The bulletins typically included forecasts of the winds and currents and the forecast of the spill movement. These spill forecasts were checked daily against aerial observations and satellite imagery to ensure accuracy was maintained throughout the incident. APASA RESPONSE used a combination of daily overflight operations, spill trajectory modelling and the use of satellite images to ensure the most detailed understanding of the movement and fate of the spilt Montara oil throughout the entire 73-day incident.

On March 11^th 2009, the 185 metre container ship the Pacific Adventurer lost 31 containers in heavy seas about seven nautical miles east of Cape Moreton. The fallen containers caused damage to the ship and resulted in the loss of heavy fuel oil. The APASA RESPONSE duty officer was activated and asked to model not only the trajectory of the heavy fuel oil but also the fate and trajectory of the contents of the containers; ammonium nitrate.

Australia’s national contingency plan, the National Plan to Combat Pollution of the Sea by Oil and Other Noxious and Hazardous Substances (the National Plan), is an integrated approach for handling marine oil and chemical spill response in over 1/9^th of the world’s oceans. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) manages the National Plan, working with Australian State/Northern Territory governments, the shipping, oil and gas production/exploration and chemical industries, emergency services, and fire brigades to maximize Australia’s marine pollution response capabilities.

ASA has expanded operations with a new office in Shanghai, China. The new office reflects ASA's commitment to support clients in the region.Since 1998 ASA has been involved in a number of science and technology projects in China, and ASA’s oil spill response tools have become widely used. Following a project that involved a partnership with the Shanghai Academy of Environmental Science (SAES), ASA and SAES have been working together to integrate the best available hydrodynamic models and environmental data in China with ASA's GIS and modeling tools.

The potable water supply for more than 18 million people in Shanghai, China, is threatened by the region’s rapid growth of both population and industry. Shanghai’s population is estimated to grow to over 20 million by 2010 when the metropolis hosts the Shanghai World Expo.

On 7 December 2007, the oil tanker Hebei Spirit, anchored 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Seoul, was pierced by a crane-carrying barge, releasing 10,500 metric tons of crude oil into the sea.