Program ECO-TS (ECOtechnologies & EcoServices) 2013 (joint funding)
Transport Canada, Canada
For over 25 years, French customs have been at the forefront of spill response, in particular in terms of detection by airborne equipment. The difficulties encountered in gathering indisputable evidence together with the political issues related to environmental protection have led French customs to revive scientific dynamics in this field by building partnerships with leading laboratories.
The purpose of the POLLUPROOF project (PROOF improvement of HNS maritime POLLution by airborne radar and optical facilities) was to improve authorities' capacity to detect, locate and categorise hazardous liquid substances – excluding oil – and releases of gas and particles to help gather evidence in order to prosecute offenders.
The POLLUPROOF project assessed several radar and optical sensors based on their capacity to detect and characterise 6 hazardous liquid substances selected through an in-depth experimental study.
The project came to completion in December 2017 with a final wrap-up workshop at the headquarters of French customs, attended by national and international stakeholders in maritime surveillance. The results obtained pave the way to innovative investigation equipment for marine spills of hazardous liquid substances which are difficult to appraise using the equipment that is currently available.
ANR (French National Research Agency) website