SWIR and drones for early detection of oil spills in ports (SWIPE). (SWIPE)

The Port of Antwerp-Bruges is seeking solutions to perform accurate and fast detection of oil incidents in the port area. The port is polluted on a regular basis by oil which has a serious environmental and economical impact. Amongst the economical impacts are the costs for clean-up of the oil, which are related to its size, volume, the type of product and the location. These costs variate year to year, but in average we speak about the budget of 700K up to one million euro per year. The port is seeking solutions for early detection of the spills and follow up the spill while cleaning. Drones are seen as the ideal platform and are part of the port's future strategy towards digitization. To make drone inspections operational in 2021 is the priority of the Port of Antwerp-Bruges Authority. For this proposal, the port has identified two partners in Belgium, VITO and the University of Antwerp which have the necessary expertise to develop an appropriate solution. The objectives of this project are (1) to develop a prototype workflow to detect oil spills from a drone and (2) demonstrate the technology in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. Port of Antwerp-Bruges Authority will launch a tender in Q3 2021 to select a company which will provide drone inspections in the port area. Automated oil spills detection is a part of the inspection program. Therefore it is very important for the Port of Antwerp-Bruges to help to develop this technology and to bring it to a higher TRL level. The Antwerp Port authority is co-funding by opening up their infrastructure, introducing an artificial spill and providing continuous feedback on the results. The result will be a prototype workflow to detect oil spills from drone images at TRL 5-6, accompanied by a protocol for the camera settings and flight protocol. The innovation in this proposal is linked to the challenging application of the technology in a complex and harsh port environment and the combined use of SWIR and RGB imagery.

Keywords:ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH, BIODIVERSITY

Disciplines:Remote sensing, Surveying

Project type:Collaboration project