Dispersant Application Monitoring: Tier II and III Field Guide

This short field guide is intended to be used by anyone using dispersants to combat oil spills at sea to provide a qualitative assessment of the efficacy of dispersant operations using in field monitoring. Included are the safety considerations for dispersant use and a description of the variables involved. Additionally guidance is given on the tools that can be used to indicate whether dispersant is effective at dispersing the surface oil slick.

Monitoring is important to determine:

• That the dispersant was applied at the appropriate dosage in the correct locations
• Whether the dispersant is effective

Decision makers need to be briefed on the observed efficacy of the operation, so that they can make an informed decision on response strategy.