Biography
Monica Mullins is a PhD researcher in the iCRAG Marine Geosciences spoke. She graduated with a BSc in Marine Science from National University of Ireland, Galway in 2016.
Monica joined iCRAG under the supervision of Prof. Peter Croot (NUIG) and will be investigating the optical properties of natural (phytoplankton) and manmade (oil) slicks along the Irish coast, with focus on the particulate absorption, CDOM and FDOM components. Additionally, she will construct a spectral library of the oil products to develop and informed data analysis system for the identification of surface slicks using satellite data.
The accidental release of oil, be it from natural oil seeps or maritime spills, into the environment is an ongoing problem. A challenge facing industry is the ability to detect and monitor these spills among other naturally occurring compounds, phytoplankton blooms for example.
This projects aims to link detection of these natural and manmade surface slicks with satellite observations. It will be done so by developing a suite of software tools that includes all available data to identify the sources of these slicks within Irish waters.
Project title: Application of CDOM optical properties for tracing natural and manmade surface slicks
Technical description
This project will be investigating the optical properties of natural and manmade surface slicks along the Irish coast. This project has 4 main objectives;
1. To determine a set of criteria for GES regarding the optical properties of seawater:
2. To identify CDOM components produced by natural blooms of phytoplankton in Irish waters
3. To develop a spectral library of the optical properties of common maritime pollutants in seawater
4. To develop an informed data analysis system for the identification of surface slicks from satellite data drawing on the information above from in situ analysis.
Role
- Postgraduate Researcher
Institution
- NUIG
Research Area
- Earth System Change
Expertise
- Geomarine Environment
