Sustained autonomous environmental monitoring of offshore oil fields

NERC和NOC在开发创新方法以利用自动水下机器人等机器人系统改善海洋观测方面走在了前列。这些机器人使科学家能够以前所未有的细节获得关于不同海洋生物栖息地中生命分布的重要见解，并更多地了解解释动物发现地点的过程。海洋栖息地正受到许多不同人类影响的日益增加的压力；例如捕鱼、污染和矿产资源开采，但NERC开发创新监测方法的研究有可能帮助工业改善环境数据收集和监测，以减轻对环境的影响。在这个创新伙伴项目中，我们建议与碳氢化合物公司飓风能源公司合作。我们将在该公司工作四个月，探索使用NERC和NOC开发的最新海洋机器人和其他自主系统，以及商业上可用的系统，以提高从环境调查中获得的信息质量。目标是与飓风交换知识，以帮助提高这些调查的质量和效率。该项目将有一个阶段，我们将直接与飓风能源的环境经理合作，以确定他们的要求。这之后将是一个阶段，我们将根据不同类型的技术提出一系列选择，以解决他们在环境数据收集方面的挑战。这些将与传统的环境数据收集方法进行比较，以使飓风能够做出知情的选择，并将包括与行业监管机构的联系。该项目借鉴了与工业界合作的经验，将海洋环境监测纳入石油泄漏的常规作业和应急反应(NE/P013228/1)以及退役石油和天然气基础设施的环境监测(NE/P016561/1)。它还将利用科学自动潜航器和定点观测站的实际经验，特别是关于国家海洋委员会制定开创性的方法来评估海底生境的空间生态，例如NERC AESA项目NE/H021787/1和对Hayg Fras海洋保护区的时间序列监测、对罗卡尔浅滩的调查以及通过NERC持续观测方案对波丘派恩深海平原的长期监测。它还受益于NOC与飓风能源现有的合作项目，通过参与NOC领导的蛇项目(在科学研究的待命时间使用工业遥控车辆)。这项工作尤其相关和及时，因为飓风能源正在开发大兰开斯特地区，并将开始开发英国设得兰西部的大沃里克地区。

NERC and NOC are at the forefront of the development of innovative methods to improve observations in the oceans using robotic systems such as Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. These robots have allowed scientists to gain important insights to the distribution of life in different marine habitats in unprecedented detail and understand more about the processes that explain where the animals are found. Marine habitats are under increasing pressure from many different human impacts; e.g. fishing, pollution and mineral resource extraction but NERC's research developing innovative monitoring methods has the potential to help industry to improve environmental data collection and monitoring to mitigate environmental impacts. In this Innovation Partnership project we propose to work with the hydrocarbon company Hurricane Energy Plc. We will spend four months working in the company to explore the use of the latest marine robots and other autonomous systems developed by NERC and NOC as well as commercially available systems to improve the quality of information acquired from environmental surveys. The objective is to exchange knowledge with Hurricane to help increase the quality and efficiency of these surveys. There will be a phase of the project in which we work directly with Hurricane Energy's environmental manager to determine their requirements. This will be followed by a phase in which we propose a series of options based on different types of technology to address their environmental data collection challenges. These will be compared with conventional methods of environmental data collection to enable Hurricane to make informed choices and will include liaison with the industry regulators. The project draws on experience working with industry to incorporate MAS into routine operations and emergency response to oil spills (NE/P013228/1) and environmental monitoring of decommissioned oil and gas infrastructure (NE/P016561/1). It will also make use of real-world experience from scientific AUV and fixed-point observatory use; in particular on the NOC's development of pioneering methods to assess spatial ecology of benthic habitats e.g. NERC AESA project NE/H021787/1 and time-series monitoring of the Haig Fras Marine Protected Area, surveys of Rockall Bank and long-term monitoring at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain through the NERC Sustained Observing Programme. It also gains from NOC's existing collaborative project with Hurricane Energy through their participation in the NOC led SERPENT Project (use of industry remotely operated vehicles during stand-by time for scientific study).This work is particularly relevant and timely as Hurricane Energy develop the Greater Lancaster Area and will begin explooration of the Greater Warwick Area, West of Shetland, UK.