Enhancing Lagrangian particle tracking using objective Eulerian coherent structures.

Forecasting the drift of floating particles in the ocean is crucial for pollution control but it is often hindered by uncertainties in surface velocity fields and numerical particle initialization, leading to significant trajectory errors. This study addresses these challenges by integrating Objective Eulerian Coherent Structures (OECS) into Lagrangian particle-transport simulations. OECS identify hyperbolic regions in ocean flows that redirect trajectories, thereby enabling a more accurate depiction of particle trajectories.

An affordable operational oil spill monitoring system in action: A diachronic multiplatform analysis of recent incidents in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

The coexistence of marine sensitive areas with the oil industry requires robust preparedness and rapid response capabilities for monitoring and mitigating oil spill events. Scientifically proven satellite-based methods for the visual detection of oil spills are widely recognized as effective, low-cost, transferable, scalable, and operational solutions, particularly in developing economies. Following meticulous design and implementation, we adopted and executed a relatively low-cost operational monitoring and alert system for oil spill detection over the ocean surface and alert issuance.

Rapid assessment tool for oil spill planning and contingencies.

The Rapid Oil Spill Hazard Assessment is presented as a demonstration of concept for a tool providing a framework for managers and planners to assess potential impact areas of oil spills. The tool consists of precomputed oil spill scenarios derived from the analysis of twenty years of modeled current data using Self-Organizing Maps to identify 16 representative patterns. These patterns were used to provide boundary conditions for hydrodynamic and wave models to generate higher resolution current fields, used to drive a Lagrangian oil particle transport model creating the most probable oil spill dispersion patterns.