DEVELOPMENT OF AN OPERATIONAL TOOL FOR OIL SPILL FORECAST: APPLICATION IN OIL EXPOSED REGIONS

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Development of an operational tool for oil spill forecast: application to oil exposed regions

Publication . Janeiro, João Miguel Leitão; Martins, Flávio; Relvas, Paulo

The objective of the following thesis is to present a modelling methodology, based on the MOHID system, which allows the development of coastal operational models by taking advantage of already implemented regional operational models using a downscaling approach. This increase in resolution allows studying the influence of coastal scale processes in the dynamics of oil spills, while contributing to more accurate forecasts. The methodology was used to forecast the evolution of oil spills in two distinct areas both prone to oil pollution events: Southwest Portuguese Coast and the Tuscany Archipelago (Italy). In both regions an operational model was developed and validated to a good level, using several types of oceanographic data available in European and global databases. The method was tested during the Costa Concordia accident, where operational forecasts aided the Italian authorities during the fuel removal operations. Also considered in this work are the interaction between waves/currents/wind in the dynamics of oil spills at sea, the identification of mesoscale circulation patterns and their influence on the risk to accidents as well as the integration of these numeric methods with early detection and monitoring systems.

2014Doctoral thesis

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