Citation: Khalturin, A.A.; Parfenchik,
K.D.; Shpenst, V.A. Features of Oil
Spills Monitoring on the Water
Surface by the Russian Federation in
the Arctic Region. J. Mar. Sci. Eng.
2023, 11, 111. https://doi.org/
10.3390/jmse11010111
Academic Editor: Kenneth Lee
Received: 15 November 2022
Revised: 24 December 2022
Accepted: 28 December 2022
Published: 5 January 2023
Copyright: © 2023 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Journal of
Marine Science
and Engineering
Article
Features of Oil Spills Monitoring on the Water Surface by the
Russian Federation in the Arctic Region
Artem Alekseevich Khalturin * , Konstantin Dmitrievich Parfenchik and Vadim Anatolievich Shpenst
Department of Electroenergetics and Electromechanics, Saint-Petersburg Mining University,
21st Line of Vasilievskiy Island, 2, 199106 St. Petersburg, Russia
* Correspondence: s195022@stud.spmi.ru
Abstract:
Given that the recent rapid growth of offshore production, especially in the Arctic region
of the Russian Federation, is causing increased concern about oil spills on the water surface, this
issue is especially relevant and important today. These pollutants have a devastating impact on the
world’s marine biosphere. Therefore, effective and reliable methods and instruments must be used for
operational spill detection in order to detect a remote oil spill. Several methods for oil spill monitoring
and Russian developments in this area were described, including their features, advantages, and
drawbacks. In cases when use in difficult Arctic conditions was anticipated, due to the harsh climate
and ice-covered water surface, it was not always possible for spill detection instruments to be utilized.
Despite this, such methods as radar, infrared, and ultraviolet were proven to be effective during this
research. Ultimately, the combination of these methods returned the greatest volume of information
to offshore platform staff about a detected oil spill. The information provided includes the spread
area of the spill, the thickness of the leak, and the chemical composition of the oil.
Keywords:
remote sensing; oil spills; the Arctic region; radar; infrared; ultraviolet; cosecance
directional diagram
1. Introduction
An oil spill is a mass of oil that floats on the surface of a water body and is carried by
the wind, currents, and tides. These can have detrimental effects on coastal ecosystems.
There are numerous factors that can contribute to incidents of oil and petroleum product
spills, including wear and tear on facilities, poor quality of repair and restoration, natural
disasters, negligence in the workplace, acts of terrorism, and wars. An oil spill can happen
at any point in the oil production and refining process, including during storage and
transportation [
1
]. Potential sources of oil spills include well blowouts during subsea
exploration or production, releases or spills from subsea pipelines, leaks from onshore
storage tanks or pipeline leaks, and accidents involving vessels [2,3].
The impact of oil spills in the Arctic is particularly serious due to the adverse effects
they could have on the delicate ecosystem of the region and because it would be especially
difficult to detect and track oil seepage beneath the ice [
4
]. Conditions such as moving
ice, low temperatures, limited visibility or complete darkness, high-speed winds, and
extreme storms increase the risk of accidents or errors that can lead to oil spills. The
hazard of environmental and economic damage from major oil spills in Arctic waters can be
significantly reduced by the development of faster and more reliable sensing techniques [
5
].
Rapid and effective detection of oil pollution on the water surface is possible with
contemporary remote monitoring methods. Broadcast data about the volume, area, and
even chemical composition can then be obtained.
2. Oil Pollution of the World’s Waters Today
The oil market grew rapidly in the mid-20th century. Large tanker ships capable of
carrying over 100 thousand tons of raw materials began to appear, along with underwater
J. Mar. Sci. Eng. 2023, 11, 111. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11010111 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jmse
