Continuous Oil Spill Remote Sensing and Autonomous Monitoring

The Pyxis camera is a polarized thermal infrared sensor that provides area detection at all times of day in a variety of conditions. It exploits the difference in oil and water material properties rather than temperature differences and is therefore far more robust for detection and false alarm rejection. It is small and has been integrated with drones, mounted at fixed sites, and used as a handheld for spill detection and monitoring. Pyxis has been tested extensively at Ohmsett and successfully demonstrated for oil detection at the MC20 site and at Santa Barbara in both manned and unmanned aircraft. Pyxis has now been integrated into the Polarization Oil Detection System (PODS) for autonomous oil spill detection and monitoring. PODS essentially operates as a web camera and continuously monitors the user defined area for oil entering the scene while adapting to changing environmental conditions. PODS is well-suited for monitoring fixed sites at processing or transfer points, unmanned rigs and platforms, and along waterways and pipelines.