Modeling the flow of oil under sea ice: a role for the AUV

Traditional countermeasures for combating oil spills in the marine environment have a reduced effectiveness in ice covered seas. Despite significant advances over the past few decades researchers have been struggling to design a system that can remotely detect oil under sea ice. One line of research has focused on predicting the flow of oil under sea ice through the development of oil-trajectory models. Autonomous underwater vehicles can play a role in constraining the errors within these oil trajectory models. This article discusses this role.