Application of an Eulerian-Lagrangian oil spill modeling system to the Prestige accident: trajectory analisys

Abstract

The environmental and economical consequences of an oil spill near coastal areas lead to an increasing effort by governments and the oil industry to develop tools, such as oil spill modeling systems, that could be used to mitigate these types of catastrophes. Oil spill modeling systems simulate hydrodynamics and the physical, chemical and biological processes that determine the fate of oil slicks. Recent technological developments, such as PC clusters, make these systems extremely attractive for practical applications in support of accident prevention and mitigation measures. This paper introduces a new oil spill modeling system and describes its application to the Prestige disaster (Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, November 2002). The modeling system includes a flexible oil spill model, which can be used as a 2D surface plume model, or as a sophisticated surface-water column 3D model. Both options include all relevant processes, including the coastal retention and later release of the oil to the water column. The oil spill model is based on Eulerian-Lagrangian formulations, uses unstructured grid discretizations and is coupled with the 3D hydrodynamic model SELFE. A hindcast simulation of the Prestige oil spill disaster between 13 and 19 of November 2002 is presented here, based on the CEDRE information for ship route. The 3D hydrodynamics in the Iberian Atlantic shelf were determined with SELFE, forced by tides, wind and baroclinic gradients, while the 2D surface plume model was used to simulate the surface oil slick trajectory. The boundary and initial conditions for salinity and temperature were obtained from LEVITUS atlas while wind and wave data were retrieved from NCEP and WAVEWATCH III databases (NOAA, US). The oil plume trajectory validation was made against available satellite SAR images. The application shows the good numerical behavior of the model, its ability to predict the plume trajectory, and reveals its potential as a management tool. The application also highlights the importance of the accuracy of the forcings on the plume's pathway.