UTILIZING SURFACE DRIFTER DATA TO IMPROVE OIL SPILL RESPONSE EFFORTS

Abstract

ABSTRACT During an oil spill or search and rescue response, time is of the essence. Trajectory models, such as OILMAP and SARMAP developed by Applied Science Associates, Incorporated, are used in these situations to provide rapid predictions of the movement of oil or drifting objects (vessels, persons, containers), respectively. However, these models can only be as accurate as the environmental data they use for each simulation. One vital piece of this environmental data is the current field. Utilizing a typical hydrodynamic data set, such as the MERA-11 Reanalysis data developed by Mercator Ocean, a French operational oceanographic organization, does not provide the precision needed for an emergency response. Hydrodynamic data capture the mean flow but cannot capture transient features due to its heavy reliance on satellite altimetry data. These transient features are critical in predicting the movement of oil particles or missing vessels, particularly in a near-shore environment. In the event of an incident, several standardized World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Surface Velocity Program (SVP) drifting buoys drogued to 15 meters or less could be deployed to capture the movement of water at the surface in the vicinity of the response site. At a cost of less than $2000 per drifting buoy, the benefit of acquiring this real-time hydrodynamic data far outweighs the cost of inaccurate response efforts, such as deploying protective booming at sensitive areas that will not be impacted or conducting aerial reconnaissance search patterns in locations where the lost vessel or person would not have a chance of being located. These buoys can be purchased and pre-staged in large port regions by federal, state, or local agencies or the private sector for rapid deployment. Employing trajectory models is a well-known practice in both the oil and search and rescue response communities. However, by implementing a method for capturing accurate, real-time current data, the precision of these model simulations can be improved significantly.