Sea Technology

AUG 2012

The industry's recognized authority for design, engineering and application of equipment and services in the global ocean community

Issue link: http://sea-technology.epubxp.com/i/77248

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 39 of 79

"The GUI provides a useful tool to any local coast guard to manage oil spills in coastal and ocean-ocean areas." GUI Phases The process of creating the simulations and analyzing the results of the forecasting model occurs over four phases. Dur- ing the first phase, the user enters all information related to the scenario to be simulated into the input menu, such as simula- tion name, geographical coordinates, type and quantity of pol- lutant and area covered. The BOOM system assumes an initial circular shape for the oil slick. The radius of the spill is automatically calculated in meters and passed to the hydrodynamic model to fill the area of interest with the pollutant particles. At this step, the user can maintain the specifications previously used and archived or generate new ones. After specifying the scenario's initial con- ditions, the user can launch the simulation. In the second phase, the GUI automatically generates a file containing the requested specifications and passes it to the hy- drodynamic numerical model that runs the simulation of pol- lutant dispersal. During the third phase, results are generated as a series of image and video files. In the fourth phase, the user analyzes the results of the simulation graphically displayed in the GUI's output section. Coast Guard Deployment In January 2011, an accident occurred at the offshore pipe station during an oil transfer from a ship tanker in front of the industrial harbor of Porto Torres, located on Sardinia Island's northwest coast. The oil spilled continuously for about 18 hours, and the coast guard was alerted several hours later as the amount of oil spilled was initially significantly underesti- mated. About 50 cubic meters of heavy crude oil was released into the sea, moving northeast for about five days and running ashore several times along 100 kilometers of coastline. At the request of the Italian Ministry of Environment, the BOOM system was run in retrograde mode in order to verify the origin of all beached spills in the area. Efforts were partic- ularly focused on sourcing the slick found during an air survey in the coastal waters at the entrance of the Bonifacio Strait one week after the accident. Further sources of spills in the area (e.g., tanks cleaning bilge waters) were evaluated. The results from the GUI reproduced the probable trajectory of the spilled oil and revealed it had originated from the harbor of Porto Torres and at the entrance of the Bonifacio Strait. This was verified via samples of floating oil that were collected and chemically analyzed. Conclusions Oil spill trajectory forecasting and retrograde investigations are now possible for the Italian Coast Guard in La Maddalena 40 st / AUGUST 2012 through a GUI that uses information from an ocean forecasting system at different spatial resolutions. The GUI was intended to support the local coast guard by enabling rapid identification of operational priorities in oil spills and resource optimization to prevent oil pollution in the Strait of Bonifacio. The hourly simulations of an oil slick's position provided by the GUI can be used to investigate the consequences of po- tential spills in the strait by producing risk maps to identify the most exposed areas in relation to type and quantity of spilled oil and meteorological conditions. The coast guard in La Maddalena has included the results of some simulations in its local anti-pollution plan for 2009, submitted to the Italian Ministry for Environment. The plan was revised to consider the hydrodynamics in the La Maddalena archipelago, including changes to the location of anti-pollution equipment and vessels. The GUI provides a useful tool to any local coast guard to manage oil spills in coastal and open-ocean areas. Its flexible and modular construction allows quick adaptation to the flow and type of data passed between the GUI and underlying nu- merical models, making it possible to extend the simulation's geographical domain. Acknowledgments A special thanks to Dr. Andrea Cucco of Istituto per l'Ambi- ente Marino Costiero Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche at Oristano, Italy, and to the Captain of Vessel (Capitaneria di Porto) Cmdr. Rodolfo Giovannini of the Coast Guard Marine Environmental Department's Marine Pollution Office. This work is part of the project SOS-BONIFACIO (contract DEC/DPN 2291 of 19/12/2008) funded by the Directorate General for Nature Protection of the Italian Ministry for Envi- ronment, Land and Sea and of the FP7-SPACE European proj- ects MyOcean (contract n. 218812) and MyOcean2 (contract n. 283367). Ocean numerical forecasts at different spatial and temporal scales are updated daily and available at www.seafore cast.cnr.it. Alberto Ribotti is a research scientist in physical oceanography, with expertise in ocean monitor- ing pertaining to numerical ocean model valida- tion and climatology. He works on projects for operational oceanography, ocean forecasting and capacity building activities in oceanogra- phy. Matteo Sinerchia has a Ph.D. in marine ecosys- tem modeling and is a research scientist in bio- logical and fisheries oceanography. His expertise is in numerical modeling of the ecophysiology and population dynamics of phytoplankton and zooplankton using individual-based modeling and Lagrangian ensemble approaches in C++, Java and Fortran programming languages. Roberto Sorgente is a research scientist in phys- ical oceanography, with expertise in high-reso- lution ocean general circulation modeling systems at finite differences for operational analysis, nowcast and forecast at subregional scale. He is a member of the Operational Advi- sory Group of the Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network. www.sea-technology.com

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Sea Technology - AUG 2012
loading...
Sea Technology
Welcome!
If you're not a subscriber, please click here.