Technological Advances in Drifters for Oil Transport Studies

Abstract

Advances in drifter technology applied to oil spill studies from 1970 to the present are summarized here. Initially, drifters designed for oil spill response were intended to remotely track trajectories of accidental spills and help guide responders. Most recently, inexpensive biodegradable drifters were developed for massive deployments, making it possible to significantly improve numerical transport models and to investigate, via observations, the processes leading to dispersion and accumulation of surface pollutants across multiple scales. Over the past 50 years, drifters have benefited from constant improvements in electronics for accurate and frequent location and data transmission, as well as progress in material sciences to reduce fabrication costs and minimize the environmental impact of sacrificial instruments. The large amount of in-situ data provided by drifters, covering a broad area, is crucial to validate the numerical models and remote sensing products that are becoming more important in guiding response and policy decisions.