A high resolution operational oil spill model at Santander Bay (Spain): Implementation and validation

Abstract

A High Resolution Operational Oceanography System that provides decision makers with short-term (within 48 hours) oil spill trajectory forecasting at local scale, has been developed in the Bay of Santander (Spain). The system is based on process models applied in a set of nested grids. Hydrodynamics in the study area are calculated with the COAWST modelling system which uses daily boundary conditions and meteorological forcing obtained from the European network MYOCEAN (http://www.myocean.eu/) and from the Spanish met office, AEMET, respectively. Daily COAWST’s outputs and meteorological forecast are ready to be used by the oil spill transport and fate model, TESEO. A web service that manages the operational system and allows the user to run hypothetical as well as real oil spill trajectories has been implemented. Data from two hydrodynamics field campaigns and from experimental tests carried out with two types of oils have been used to validate the hydrodynamic and the oil spill models.