APPLICATION OF 3-DIMENSIONAL OIL-SPILL MODEL (WOSM/OILMAP) TO HINDCAST THE BRAER SPILL

A state-of-the-art, three-dimensional oil spill model (WOSM/OILMAP) was applied to hindcast the transport and fate of the Braer oil spill, which occurred off the southern coast of Shetland Island in January 1993. The model included advection, spreading, evaporation, emulsification, entrainment, oil-shoreline interaction, and subsurface transport. Tidal and winter residual flow data necessary as input to the model were derived from prior hydrodynamic modeling studies of the area. Wind data were obtained from observations at the Sumburgh Airport for the time period of interest. Model predictions of the surface and subsurface oil paths, shoreline oiling, and subsurface oil distributions are generally in reasonable agreement with available observations. The simulations clearly show the importance of entrainment, subsurface transport, and resurfacing of oil and accurate representations of the current field in the vicinity of the grounding site and to the south of Shetland Island in accurately hindcasting the spill.