Engineering & Environmental Research

DF Dickins Associates Ltd.

Projects: Environmental Studies

Selected Environmental Studies

NASA MODIS satellite image, March 17, 2002,
showing late winter ice conditions around
Sakhalin Island and in the Northern Sea of
Okhotsk along the Russian mainland coast.

Dickins developed a new graphical dataset based on ice charts covering the period 1995-2006. The data is now being used by the insurers to assess the risk of ice damage to exploration rigs in different areas around Sakhalin Island.  The client has already made extensive use of this report and finds the presentation especially valuable in assigning realistic risk premiums.

MODIS image showing ice off the
Alaskan North Coast on July 29, 2002
(NASA)

North Slope Nearshore and Offshore Breakup Study, Literature Search and Analysis of Conditions and Dates
With OASIS Environmental for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) Anchorage – delivered June 2006

Working with OASIS Environmental, DF Dickins developed a new ice database utilizing the 30-year digital ice atlas compiled by the Canadian Ice Service, together with a comprehensive satellite archive of Landsat and NASA MODIS images. The study provides an analysis of Beaufort Sea ice conditions and dates associated with seasonal transitions at break-up and freeze-up.  The study area spans the entire Alaskan North Coast from Point Barrow to the US/Canada. The database can be used to generate tables of recommended dates when oil spill response activities can safely take place on solid fast ice.  A report summary is available at www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/ipp/docs/IceTOC.pdf

Lun-A topsides installation as part of
the Sakhalin 2 project. Photo: Sakhalin
Energy (Gunningham 2007) 

Sakhalin 1 and 2 – various studies 2003 to 2006

Warren & Leora Worthington

Dickins was contracted to prepare a technical paper summarizing the expected impacts of hovercraft-induced underwater sound levels on marine mammals in the Cold Bay, Aleutians area.

USGS - Landsat 7

Historical Landsat imagery was used to map coastal ice conditions affecting operations planning for the proposed Pt. Thomson oil development east of Prudhoe Bay.

Point Hope Polynya
for AMEC Simons, Vancouver, February 2001

This project involved collecting all available Landsat imagery over the past 28 years, showing the development and extent of the recurring winter polynya along the Chukchi Sea coast between Point Hope and Cape Kruzenstern. The results were used to support ongoing environmental assessments of the proposed expansion to the DeLong Mountain Terminal serving the Red Dog mine.

Coastal Information Resource Inventory
for Ministry of Aquaculture, Fisheries and Food (subcontract to Coastal & Ocean Resources Inc.), 1993

Dickins was part of a multi-disciplinary project team conducting an inventory of the various databases related to coastal resources in British Columbia. srmwww.gov.bc.ca/risc/o_docs/coastal/cir/coastal-03.htm

Environmental Conditions: Soviet Barents Sea
for an Oil Industry Client, 1991

Dickins Associates combined data from a wide variety of sources to provide a composite description of ice regimes (ice edges, concentrations, drift, and thickness) and climate in the Pechora Gulf in the Russian Barents Sea, an area of active oil development.

Historical Review of Industry Use of Offshore Staging Sites
for Environment Canada (subcontract to the Seakem Group), 1991

The company developed an historical overview of industry activities at Herschel Island and in McKinley Bay from 1976 to 1990, along with all records of contaminant spills or deliberate releases.

Gulf Canada Resources

Dickins reviewed the ice information contained in the environmental submission and acted as an expert witness at the hearings of the Environmental Impact Review Board on issues related to Beaufort Sea ice conditions and oil behaviour in ice.

Cominco Metals

Dickins investigated the potential impact of above surface and underwater noise on fish stock and migratory birds along the proposed hovercraft route.

Environmental Atlas for Lancaster Sound Oil Spill Response
for Environment Canada, 1989-1990

Dickins managed the project, coordinated the production of the final atlas and completed all sections on the marine ice environment.
Publications: Environmental and Offshore

Oil Spill Response Atlas for the Southwest Coast of Vancouver Island
for the B.C. Ministry of Environment, 1990

Dickins Associates directed a team of specialists to develop a comprehensive coastal sensitivity atlas of Southwest Vancouver Island.
Publications: Oil Spills

Gulf Canada Resources

Dickins was contracted to assist with the preparation of an environmental summary of the proposed drilling program and to act as an expert witness on Beaufort Sea ice conditions during hearings called by the Environmental Impact Review Board.

NASA Goddard

The extent of multi-year ice was mapped over an eight-year period by utilizing daily representations of the multi-year ice fraction derived from Nimbus-7 SMMR data.

A 22 day field program documented specific features of nearshore ice, which play a role in coastal sediment transport and nearshore ice gouging in the Beaufort Sea.

Pack Ice in Canadian Waters
for Environment Canada, 1986

The pack ice regimes in the Beaufort Sea, Lancaster Sound, and offshore Labrador were evaluated according to dynamic processes affecting oil behaviour in a moving ice environment. Statistical summaries of lead and floe dynamics are presented according to location and time of year. Data sources included aerial photography, SLAR imagery and Landsat imagery.
Publications: Environmental and Offshore

Alaskan Beaufort Sea Ice Atlas
for SOHIO Petroleum Company, 1984 (now BP Exploration)

This full color atlas maps the occurrence of critical parameters of the offshore environment for planning future exploration and production activities.

Fourteen floes were surveyed at the polar pack edge in April 1982. A comprehensive set of statistics were obtained through drill hole measurements and sonar profiling. This data set is one of a very limited number of studies, which provide a reliable distribution of multi-year floe thickness with ridges deliberately excluded.
Publications: Environmental and Offshore

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