High-Tech Eye in the Sky May Spot Oil Spills in All Kinds of Weather : Pollution: TRW has contracted with four marine cleanup cooperatives to use the sophisticated electronic surveillance system, which is largely untried.

As a stricken tanker hemorrhages oil in heavy fog off the California coast, a plane takes to the air equipped with a high-tech sensor that scans the spill, pinpointing its location, size and thickness.

While the plane flies back and forth above the slick, the data is transmitted to an onshore command center, where a computer spits out maps that are used to guide cleanup vessels to the heaviest pollution.

Such is the capability, on paper at least, of a newly developed electronic surveillance system that the aerospace company TRW has agreed to operate for four West Coast oil cleanup cooperatives.

The deal marks the first time such technology has been contracted for use in the United States, where aerial spill-monitoring has thus far consisted of naked-eye observation from helicopters or planes--a method rendered useless in poor visibility and at night.

Although electronic spill surveillance has existed in Europe for years, the primary systems in use there cannot penetrate bad weather or gauge variations in an oil slick’s thickness nearly as well as the TRW sensor can, officials with the cleanup cooperatives say.

“This system does it all,” said Roy McClymonds of Clean Coastal Waters, a Long Beach cooperative that skimmed oil released two years ago in the 400,000-gallon American Trader spill off Huntington Beach. “Now, even in poor visibility, we’ll be able to say, ‘Hey, there’s a big chunk of oil out there a half-mile. Let’s go get it.’ ”

Some experts question the capabilities of the TRW sensor, saying it is largely untried. Called a passive millimeter-wave sensor, the device creates pictures from the radio waves emitted and reflected naturally by all substances.

But TRW stands by its new equipment, saying it marks a major advance in putting military research to commercial use--a strategy also being pursued by other defense contractors smarting from federal budget cuts.

“This is one of our early breakthroughs in taking laboratory-developed technology out to the marketplace,” said Fred S. Brown, a TRW vice president of marketing. “The successes are pretty important to us.”

The surveillance system, scheduled to be ready for use this fall, was developed at TRW’s space and defense unit in Redondo Beach. The four nonprofit cooperatives paying TRW $492,000-a-year to operate it are Clean Coastal Waters, Clean Bay of Concord, Clean Seas of Carpinteria and Clean Sound Cooperative of Edmonds, Wash. All are funded by the oil industry.

Underlying the new system, which will include a twin-engine plane, a command center computer and TRW employees on call 24 hours a day to operate them, is the millimeter-wave sensor.

Company officials say they have been developing the sensor for several years in hopes that the Pentagon eventually will buy it. The hope appears well-placed: TRW announced last week that it has received a $250,000 contract from the Air Force to demonstrate how passive millimeter-wave equipment could be used in future aircraft landing systems.

The technology appeals to military brass because, unlike radar, it does not emit energy that can be detected by enemy eavesdropping equipment. At the same time, the device not only functions at night, as existing infrared systems can, but--unlike infrared--builds its electronic picture from long radio waves that pass through clouds and fog.

“Fifteen or 20 years ago the military made a decision to rule the night,” said Jay Pearlman, an electromagnetic sensor expert at TRW’s space and defense unit. “We believe that in the next generation (of technology) the military is probably going to rule the weather.”

In the meantime, TRW has been marketing its sensor aggressively for use in ocean oil spill cleanups. Though many experts believe the new equipment holds promise for that purpose, some question whether it has proven itself sufficiently to be put to commercial use.

Charles Giammona, director of engineering for Marine Spill Response Corp., a new nationwide oil spill cleanup company funded by the oil industry, says his organization is looking to buy electronic surveillance equipment but is not yet sold on TRW’s sensor.

One concern, he says, is that the device takes in a far smaller area than one type of equipment used widely in Europe--a “side-looking” radar attached to the belly of planes. While one pass with the radar can monitor a swath of sea 80 nautical miles wide, Giammona points out, TRW says its sensor covers a width of one mile.

A more general consideration, he says, is that side-looking radar and another system used in Europe--a plane-mounted device that combines infrared and ultraviolet sensors--have proven track records.

The TRW sensor’s only trip over an oil slick occurred in a clear-weather test during the American Trader spill. Since the system was not fully operational, it was not used to guide cleanup efforts.

“Everybody is interested in (millimeter-wave sensors) because they have the capability of being an all-weather type of sensor, but they are not proven in an operational sense yet,” said Giammona. “TRW has only taken this system on one flight, one day, during one spill.”

TRW officials respond that their sensor has shown its mettle in aerial and ground tests that--while they did not involve oil slicks--were performed in poor visibility. And in the test during the American Trader spill, the device showed an impressive ability to distinguish between light and heavy oil pollution, they say.

The company’s new clients agree.

“I was impressed with the clarity,” said Stephen Ricks of Clean Bay, the Concord cleanup cooperative. “With other systems I’ve seen, it’s not as easy to identify the oil and the relative thickness.”

McClymonds of Clean Coastal Waters, the Long Beach cooperative, says the millimeter-wave system would have been a big help during the American Trader spill had it been operational. Cleanup vessels were aided by clear weather but had trouble locating oil with their searchlights at night.

“Oil is difficult to see on the water, and at night we were just groping around out there, hoping we would run into it,” he said.

McClymonds rejects the view that the new sensor is hampered by its inability to take in a large area of the ocean’s surface at one time. A vessel that spills oil, he argues, will direct TRW’s surveillance plane close enough to a slick for the sensor to begin monitoring the pollution.

Should the millimeter-wave system prove faulty, McClymonds adds, the cooperatives reserve the right in their contract to halt their $492,000-a-year payments. But such a scenario, he asserts, is unlikely.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the system,” he says. “We have to have some faith in TRW. This is no Podunk outfit.”

Outflanking Oil Spills TRW has developed a system that can track oil spills, even at night or in fog. Problems in determining the precise location and extent of oil slicks have hampered emergency response to spills, including the 1989 accident off the Huntington Beach coast. Four oil spill cleanup cooperatives funded by the petroleum industry have contracted with TRW to use the system, which should be in place this fall. 1. Checking It Out: An airplane-mounted sensor scans the spill, picking up radio waves that will be used to determine the slick’s size, location and thickness. 2. Drawing a Picture: The airplane transmits the spill data to an onshore command center, where a computer overlays oil spill images onto a map of the area and identifies the worst parts of the slick. 3. Cleaning It Up: The command center uses the information to direct skimming boats that clean up the spill.