A High-Resolution Oil Drift Model on the Swedish Coast

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) has developed a system for oil drift forecasting, which can be used by local authorities. The system shall predict where oil, coming from the open sea, hits the beaches or other parts of the archipelago. One crucial idea is that the system shall be easy to handle and also give fast calculations. An operational three-dimensional hydrodynamical model covering the North Sea and the Baltic Sea is run daily at SMHI. When oil is found in the open sea the Swedish Coast Guard makes an oil drift forecast based on the daily runs. The oil drift forecasts are used as input data to the high-resolution local model for the Swedish west coast, which calculates the transport, behaviour, and spreading of the oil. The whole calculation is made within a GIS system. That gives access to all the geographical information and information about vulnerable areas. In order not to be dependent on daily data transmission, the local model can choose between 71 different precalculated current fields. These fields are calculated using a three-dimensional model named PHOENICS, with a grid which is highly adapted to the coastal contours. Current measurements are performed for use as boundary values for the simulation of the precalculated current fields. This forecasting system is now developed for the northern part of the Swedish west coast (down to Gothenburg).