BlueWater: A Slick Monitoring System Based on Image Processing, Statistical Classification and Predictive Modelling in the Marine Environment

An automated surveillance system for monitoring surface-borne pollutants at sea is being developed in the BLUEWATER (BW) project. A digital video camera has been installed at a strategic position within a Region of Interest (RoI) and scenes of suspected surfaceborne pollutants (Slicks) are recorded in time for interpretation and diagnosis. The collection of image data is currently used for the development of an advanced Image Processing Module (IPM) and also the Training & Testing of a Comparator Module (CM) in the BW system. This paper highlights the foundation concepts of the BW system and the underlying software architecture involved for its development. Also, the authors provide the development aspects of two modules, the Comparator and Control, which are among the important building blocks of the BW system.