Author(s)

L. Delgado, E. Kumzerova, M. Martynov, K. Mirny & P. Shepelev

Abstract

Numerical simulation of the consequence of oil pollution taking into account human response is an important tool for the planning of spill recovery strategies. Considered here is a structure of such a system developed by TRANSAS. The model uses a particle tracking method for the description of an oil slick affected by oil transport by sea currents, buoyancy and random diffusion caused by the vertical and horizontal turbulent mixing. The model also includes simulation of weathering processes such as evaporation, dispersion, emulsification, burning and viscosity variation. Different types of oil spills are considered and can be computed simultaneously. The program implements a method for the easy collection of coastline descriptions from vector-based nautical charts, and construction of the fields of currents from tidal and surface current databases. Special emphasis is laid on the modelling of response resource application including booming and recovery. Keywords: oil spill simulations, response strategies. 1 Introduction Response planning and recovery strategies associated with oil spills in coastal waters require the availability of efficient and flexible high-speed methods for forecasting the oil spill distribution. The on-line simulation system described in this paper is intended for modelling of different response strategies and is based on the Lagrangian approach to the oil slick description, which is an effective technique of oil spill numerical simulation. In this context, the oil spill is represented by an ensemble of particles moving independently under the effect of wind and current. The chemical processes occurring in the oil slick are also taken into account and

Keywords

oil spill simulations, response strategies.