RAPID: Glider Observations in the Gulf of Mexico in Response to the Oil Spill

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Intellectual Merit: The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico requires a rapid response by the oceanographic community to measure subsurface oil and where it is going. The proposal is to deploy a Spray glider equipped with a CTD, CDOM fluorometer, and ADP in an effort to observe subsurface oil and general oceanographic conditions. The combination of CDOM fluorometer measurements and acoustic backscatter intensity will be used to sense oil in water. Work will be in collaboration with Breck Owens of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who will take an important role in glider piloting. The glider will be deployed from Cocodrie, Louisiana aboard the vessel Acadiana during the first week of June. The glider will be sent south of the spill site, and away from surface slicks, with the goal of observing the offshore extent of subsurface oil. The data will be widely disseminated in real time for the purpose of establishing oceanic conditions and initializing predictive models.Broader Impacts: As the oil spill is of extreme societal importance, this work proposed here has potentially huge broader impacts. Public interest in the oil spill is extremely high, with intense media coverage. A successful demonstration of the observation of subsurface oil will influence the response to oil spills for years. The collaboration of ocean scientists to address this problem of national scope may prove to be a model for the future. The data generated by gliders may lead to improved prediction of ocean currents in the region, which is essential for knowing how the oil will disperse. This use of gliders is an excellent example of their utility as a tool for rapid response.