Assessment of oil slick hazard and risk at vulnerable coastal sites.

This work gives an assessment of the hazard faced by Sicily coasts regarding potential offshore surface oil spill events and provides a risk assessment for Sites of Community Importance (SCI) and Special Protection Areas (SPA). A lagrangian module, coupled with a high resolution finite element three dimensional hydrodynamic model, was used to track the ensemble of a large number of surface trajectories followed by particles released over 6 selected areas located inside the Sicily Channel. The analysis was carried out under multiple scenarios of meteorological conditions.

A high-resolution real-time forecasting system for predicting the fate of oil spills in the Strait of Bonifacio (western Mediterranean Sea).

The Strait of Bonifacio is a long and narrow area between Corsica and Sardinia. To manage environmental emergencies related to the spill of oil from vessels, an innovative forecasting system was developed. This tool is capable of operationally predicting the dispersion of hydrocarbon spills in the coastal area of the Bonifacio Strait, either from an instantaneous or continuous spill and either in forward or backward mode.