SOILED model results of Salish Sea oil spill fate by oil type, location, sea state, and ocean properties.

Rachael Mueller1, Shihan Li2, Vicky Do3, Ashutosh Bhudia4, Krista Forysinski4, Doug Latornell5, Ben Moore-Maley3, Susan Elizabeth Allen6, Stephanie Chang4 and Haibo Niu7, (1)University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (2)Dalhousie University, NS, Canada, (3)University of British Columbia, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (4)University of British Columbia, BC, Canada, (5)UBC, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (6)Univ British Columbia, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Vancouver, BC, Canada, (7)Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Abstract:
For a typical oil spill, the combined influences of sea state, ocean properties, weathering of oil and equipment capabilities limit oil recovery to 10-15% of spill volume. The long-term impact(s) of spilled oil depends on the persistence and the weathering of the oil-type. We explore the fate of persistent and non-persistent oils in the Salish Sea using an oil fate modeling platform that is the first open-access oil spill fate model applied to the Salish Sea. Oil weathering is determined from a modified version of the MOHID model that incorporates: Wave period, wave height, and white cap coverage from WaveWatch III®; atmospheric conditions from HRDPS; and hydrodynamics from the NEMO-based SalishSeaCast model. This combined modeling product is referred to as Salishseacast-OILED, or SOILED. In this talk, we present SOILED modeling predictions of persistent and non-persistent oils to evaluate the influences of oil-type, winds, and ocean properties on the fate of spilled oil in the Salish Sea. The location and potential spill volume of different oil types is based on AIS ship track data. We use run ensembles to evaluate potential variations in oil spill fate predictions. This talk will give an overview of the SOILED modeling platform as well as case study results on spill impacts.



Back to: Physical Processes Governing the Distribution and Transport of Dispersed Particles in the Ocean IV Posters