Submersible optical sensors exposed to chemically dispersed crude oil: wave tank simulations for improved oil spill monitoring.

In situ fluorometers were deployed during the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) Gulf of Mexico oil spill to track the subsea oil plume. Uncertainties regarding instrument specifications and capabilities necessitated performance testing of sensors exposed to simulated, dispersed oil plumes. Dynamic ranges of the Chelsea Technologies Group AQUAtracka, Turner Designs Cyclops, Satlantic SUNA and WET Labs, Inc.

Development and initial calibration of a portable laser-induced fluorescence system used for in situ measurements of trace plastics and dissolved organic compounds in seawater and the Gulf of Mexico.

A portable UV laser-induced fluorescence system that uses a high pulsed repetition frequency (8-kHz) microchip laser at 266 nm, 13 switchable optical filters, and a gated photomultiplier tube detector has been developed and tested successfully for the detection of leached plastics (possibly bisphenol-A) and trace dissolved organic compounds in seawater. The instrument is 100 times more sensitive than commercial portable spectrofluorometers and measures a complete fluorescence spectrum in a moderate time period of 1-2 min. The system was tested in the Gulf of Mexico over varying water masses.