Numerical Study of the Oil Spill Trajectory in Bohai Sea, China

Abstract

Sixteen numerical experiments are conducted using the General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment (GNOME) to numerically study the oil spill trajectory in the Bohai Sea, China, for the purpose of providing information for the oil cleanup and disaster mitigation. High resolution coastline and topography data investigated by China's 908 Program are used to accurately describe the regional geographic feature of the Bohai Sea. Currents and waves required by GNOME are generated by the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model and Simulating Wave Nearshore, respectively. Experimental results show that oil spilled in different seasons and at different locations will result in completely different spilling trajectories, traveling distances, and polluting areas. Knowing that information comprehensively is vital to pollution control. Another important goal of this work is to provide users with simulated oil spill trajectory information through China Digital Ocean Prototype System (CDOPS), a grand marine information platform for managing, displaying, and public sharing of the data investigated by the China 908 Program. Users can obtain the trajectory, spreading, and potential impact area of the spilled oil through the oil spill module in CDOPS.