Goal:
After simulating an actual oil spill even, you will understand how oceanographers help to protect marine resources from pollution such as oil spills. You will use an actual modeling program called GNOME, to observe and predict oil spill trajectories. You will understand how weather and ocean conditions can affect the fate of oil transport, and how modeling these conditions can help remediation efforts.
Materials:
- GNOME(General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment) installed with a location file. In this case we use the Santa Barbara Location file.
- Pencil
- Lab sheet
- GNOME manual
Part I:
Warm Up: Re-Create the Santa Barbara Oil Spill of January 28, 1996:
The goal of part one is to test the model. Does is work? Can we actually use it? Scientists call this "hind-casting" (rather than forecasting).
Procedure:
1) Set up the spill in the model using the "GNOME manual" and the details of the spill and local weather conditions provided below:
- Model Run Duration: 3 days
- Weather conditions:
Current: Davidson current ( "Relaxation state")
Wind: Variable
Day 1: N N W, 10 knots ( Auto increment by 24 hours)
Day 2: W N W, 10 Knots
Day 3: W S W, 15 Knots
- Spill location: 34 degrees 19'54" N and 119 degrees 36' 47'' W
- Spill amount: 100,000 barrels (non-weathering)
2) Simulate the oil spill by pushing the play button and pay attention to the wind, time, and location where oil comes onshore.
Part I Question(s):
1) Does the spill you modeled agree with the local account of the actual Santa Barbara oil spill below? List some similarities and differences between the model and the observations of the actual spill.
Yes, it does because all the oil spills separated to the shore and it was moving in the direction of the wind. The similarities in the model and and the oil spill is that both are coming on shore and getting all over the land. The difference, the Santa Barbara oil spill was close together as it was going onshore and the model we created showed that it was separated and parted apart.
Local account of the Oil Spill:
Santa Barbara was experiencing a stormy weather, with a large flood event occurred on January 25, just three days before the blowout. Enormous amounts of fresh water were still running off shore from local streams, flowing south and southwest in the vicinity of the rig. Combined with the prevailing north- north westerly winds typical of the area between storm systems, this pushed the expanding oil slick away from the shore. And it seemed for several days that the beaches of Santa Barbara would be spared. However, another huge storm system affected the region on February 4, with winds moving around the compass clockwise from southeast to west; this pushed the oil slick north into Santa Barbara harbor and onto all the beaches of the southern Santa Barbara County and northwestern Ventura County.
Part II:
Part 2:
What if the spill happened today?
Disaster! There has been a spill off the coast of Santa Barbara.
It is your job as a NOAA oceanographer to do everything possible to reduce the impact of the oil spill on the coastal environment. There are 10 miles of booms available at the NOAA response station in Santa Barbara, but more booms and other coastal cleanup materials need to be loaded and driven from Los Angeles- this will take 24 hours.
You must decide where to deploy the 10 miles of booms in Santa Barbara and what to do with the remaining resources available a day later.
-Today's Weather Conditions:
Current: Winter (Sep-Feb) choose ''Relaxation''
Spring (Feb-May) choose ''Up welling''
Summer (June-Aug) choose ''Convergent''
Wind: 10 Knots, E S E (all three days) or consult the local forecast.
-Spill Location: 34 degrees 19'54''N and 119 degrees 36'47''W
- Spill Amount: 100,000 barrels (non- weathering)
Part II Questions:
1) Describe some of the differences between the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and this hypothetical spill.
One difference between the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill and today's spill is that the Santa Barbara spill is more onshore, but the hypothetical spill is more separated when the wind blows it.
2) Where did the oil make landfall after the first day? How about the second and third days?
First day: 34 degrees N and 120 degrees W
Second day: 36 degrees N and 123 degrees W
Third day: 38 degrees N and 125 degrees W
3) As a NOAA oceanographer, where would you recommend the 10 miles of booms stored at Santa Barbara be deployed? Where would you send the extra resources from LA; a day's drive away?
My partner, Mia, and I would recommend the 10 miles of booms be stored at these location coordinates:
34 degrees 15.41'N
and
121 degrees 01.84'W
Part III:
What are the most important things to know about the model?
Experiment with the wind speed, direction, and current. See what happens!
Wind Speed Wind Direction Current State Observations
Trial 1 50 NE Upwelling Oil spread ed crazy
Trial 2 50 SE Upwelling The oil separated
Trial 3 50 EW Upwelling The oil moved more onshore
Trial 4 50 EN Upwelling There was oil everywhere
Trial 5 50 SW Upwelling The oil was fast, but was close together
Lab Questions:
1) What are the most important variables in the models? Why are they important? Which do you think are the most important variables that determine where the oil spills will end up?
To me, the most important variables is the wind speed and current state. I think this because the speed can show how fast it is spreading around our ocean and the current state is also important because if it is relaxation then the oil spill won't affect as bad, but if it's upwelling then the oil spill can damage our ocean and animals. The wind direction can tell us what direction the oil will end up because whatever the direction of the wind is blowing, the oil will follow. For example, there are leaves on the floor and the wind is blowing North, then the leaves will blow in the direction and we would know where to expect it to land.
2) What kinds of things changed when you made changes to the wind speed and direction? What happened when you changed the current?
When my partner, Mia, and I changed the speed to 50 knots the oil was spreading super duper fast and it was a disaster. We put any direction possible and made a mess in our ocean. It was fun I have to admit. When we changed the current it made things worse than we could of imagined.
3) The Channel Island contain a delicate marine ecosystem. What kinds of conditions would threaten the Channel Islands if there were an oil spill in Santa Barbara channel?
Some condition that would threaten the island would be that there would be no fishes, the climate would change, and pollutants and Marine debris would be everywhere. This can affect us majorly because then we would have animals dying faster and more severely and we would have our waters contaminated with germs and bacteria's.
4) Although this model was used by NOAA, it is several years old. Newer versions take several other factors into account. Can you think about other things that may affect how oil moves around that aren't modeled in this simulation and that would improve the accuracy of the model?
The ocean currents can move it around. Also, the animals, plants, and storms can move the oil around to different places in the ocean. This can improve the model by showing others what is out there and how things can spread worldwide through all these different types of things.