National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

U.S. Department of Commerce 

NOAA’s Oil Spill Response 

Special Monitoring of Applied 

Response Technologies 

Special Monitoring of Applied Response Technologies (SMART) is a cooperatively designed monitoring 

program for on site burning and dispersants. SMART 

relies on small, highly mobile teams that collect real-time

data using portable, rugged, and easy-to-use instruments 

during dispersant and on site burning operations. 

Data are channeled to the Unified Command to 

address critical questions: Are dispersants effective in 

dispersing the oil? Are particulates concentration trends 

at sensitive locations exceeding the level of concern? 

Having monitoring data can assist the Unified Command 

with decision-making for dispersant and on site 

burning operations. 

The SMART Way 

Dispersants 

To monitor the efficacy of dispersant application, 

SMART recommends three options, or tiers. 

Tier I 

A trained observer, flying 

over the oil slick and using 

photographic job aids or 

advanced remote sensing 

instruments, assesses dispersant 

efficacy and reports back to the 

Unified Command. 

Tier II 

Tier II provides real-time 

data from the treated slick. 

A sampling team on a boat uses a fluorometer to 

continuously monitor for dispersed oil one meter under 

the dispersant-treated slick. The team records and 

conveys fluorometer data to the Scientific Support Team, 

which forwards it with recommendations to the Unified 

Command. Water samples also are taken for later analysis

at a laboratory. 

Tier III 

By expanding the monitoring efforts in several ways, 

Tier III provides information on where the dispersed oil 

goes and what happens to it: (1) two fluorometers are 

used on the same vessel to monitor at two water depths; 

(2) monitoring is conducted in the center of the treated 

slick at several water depths, from one to ten meters; and 

(3) a portable water laboratory provides data on water 

temperature, pH, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, 

and turbidity. 

On Site Burning 

For on site burning operations, SMART recommends 

deploying one or more monitoring teams downwind of 

the burn at sensitive locations such as population centers. 

The teams begin sampling before the burn begins to 

collect background data. 

(continued on back) 
After the burn starts, the teams continue sampling for 

particulate concentration trends, recording them both 

manually at fixed intervals and automatically in the data 

logger, and reporting to the Monitoring Group Supervisor 

if the level of concern is exceeded. The Scientific Support 

Team forwards the data, with recommendations, to the 

Unified Command. 

Field Experience 

SMART has already been successfully tested in the 

field. SMART was used to monitor 

dispersant applications in the Gulf 

of Mexico, and in February 1999 it 

was used to monitor the on site 

burning of the New Carissa off 

Coos Bay, Oregon. Spills and 

exercises like these help us to 

enhance SMART. 

For more information about SMART visit 

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/smart. 

Learn more about NOAA’s response to the BP oil spill 

at http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon. 

To learn more about NOAA, visit http://www.noaa.gov. 

May 13, 2010