Remote sensing for risk analysis of oil spills in the Arctic Ocean

Conference contribution, 2013

Predicted decreases in sea-ice extent and shift from multiyear ice to seasonal ice open up for commercial shipping routes within the Arctic. With expected further growth of maritime activities the potential threat of accidents is increasing. Moreover, there is a lack of information on how an oil spill would affect the Arctic Ocean environment. A robust tool following international risk assessment standards is therefore vital to 1) try to prevent oil spills through use of scenario runs and 2) increase the possibilities to delimit the damage should a spill occur. We use remote sensing images to extract information about oil spill redistribution mechanisms. This combined with information about estimated volume, type of oil and ecotoxicological data enables identification of areas in the Arctic Ocean especially vulnerable to maritime activities. We also include estimates on the probability of an oil spill occurrence.