Award: OCE-1756242

This project successfully developed new drone based approaches for sampling and/or analyzing petroleum hydrocarbons immediately above the surface ocean near natural oil seeps. Significant time and effort were devoted and led to safe and repeatable deployment of drones from small boats. Two field operations off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA allowed us to observe temporal and geospatial variability in the composition and abundance of hydrocarbons above slicks. Oil slick derived hydrocarbons decreased with altitude and distance from the seep surfacing location and the relative concentrations of individual hydrocarbons varied from seeps. Due to COVID 19 and other factors, a research cruise in the Gulf of Mexico was delayed. The methodology is well positioned to examine a wide range of compounds from any point emission source or moderately sized non point source. Knowledge gained from this project also allowed me to add expert advice/analysis in response to several ocean accidents that released petroleum hydrocarbons, specifically the 2019 Brazil Mystery oil spill, the 2020 Mauritius oil spill, the 2020 Delaware Mystery oil spill, and the 2021 MV Xpress Pearl accident off the coast of Sri Lanka. Watching and learning how Dr. Swarthout overcame these challenges and successfully completed this past summer at the CA natural seeps has opened my eyes for other ways drones can be used in chemical oceanography. I have also told other colleagues outside of this project about these challenges and outcomes. Last Modified: 12/08/2021 Submitted by: Christopher M Reddy