Hindcast of oil-spill pollution during the Lebanon crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean, July-August 2006.
MOON (Mediterranean Operational Oceanography Network http://www.moon-oceanforecasting.eu) provides near-real-time information on oil-spill detection (ocean color and SAR) and predictions [ocean forecasts (MFS and CYCOFOS) and oil-spill predictions (MEDSLIK)]. We employ this system to study the Lebanese oil-pollution crisis in summer 2006 and thus to assist regional and local decision makers in Europe, regionally and locally. The MEDSLIK oil-spill predictions obtained using CYCOFOS high-resolution ocean fields are compared with those obtained using lower-resolution MFS hydrodynamics, and both are validated against satellite observations. The predicted beached oil distributions along the Lebanese and Syrian coasts are compared with in situ observations. The oil-spill predictions are able to simulate the northward movement of the oil spill, with the CYCOFOS predictions being in better agreement with satellite observations. Among the free MEDSLIK parameters tested in the sensitivity experiments, the drift factor appears to be the most relevant to improve the quality of the results.
Coppini
Giovanni
G
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Bologna, Italy. coppini@bo.ingv.it
De Dominicis
Michela
M
Zodiatis
George
G
Lardner
Robin
R
Pinardi
Nadia
N
Santoleri
Rosalia
R
Colella
Simone
S
Bignami
Francesco
F
Hayes
Daniel R
DR
Soloviev
Dmitry
D
Georgiou
Georgios
G
Kallos
George
G
D055884:Chemical Hazard Release / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005544:Forecasting; D007861:Lebanon; D008522:Mediterranean Sea; D008956:Models, Chemical; D010578:Petroleum / Q000032:analysis*; D058998:Remote Sensing Technology; D014872:Water Movements; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis / Q000737:chemistry*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
D010578:Petroleum; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical