Coastal Education & Research Foundation, Inc.

Application of an Eulerian-Lagrangian oil spill modeling system to the Prestige accident:

trajectory analysis
Author(s): A. Azevedo, A. Oliveira, A.B. Fortunato and X. Bertin
Source: Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 56. Proceedings of the 10th
International Coastal Symposium ICS 2009, Vol. I (2009), pp. 777-781
Published by: Coastal Education & Research Foundation, Inc.
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1 Journal of Coastal Research [ SI 56 | 777-781 [ ICS2009 (Proceedings) | Portugal | ISSN 0749-0258 |

Application of an Eulerian-Lagrangian oil spill modeling system to the

Prestige accident: trajectory analysis

A. Azevedof, A. Oliveiraf, A.B. Fortunatof, and X. Bertinf

fHydraulics and Environment Dept.
Estuaries and Coastal Zones Division
National Civil Engineering Laboratory
1700-066 Lisbon, Portugal
Email: aazevedo@lnec.pt; aoliveira@lnec.pt, afortunato@lnec.pt and xbertin@lnec.pt

abstract i^^HBHHIi^^HHHHHHHBHHi^^Bil^H
Azevedo, A., Oliveira, A., Fortunato, A. and Bertin, X. 2009. Application of an E
modeling system to the Prestige accident: trajectory analysis. Journal of Coastal R
the 10th International Coastal Symposium), 777 - 781. Lisbon, Portugal, ISSN 0749

The environmental and economical consequences of an oil spill near coastal areas lea
governments and the oil industry to develop tools, such as oil spill modeling syst
mitigate these types of catastrophes. Oil spill modeling systems simulate hydro
chemical and biological processes that determine the fate of oil slicks. Recent tech
as PC clusters, make these systems extremely attractive for practical applicati
prevention and mitigation measures. This paper introduces a new oil spill modelin
application to the Prestige disaster (Northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, November
includes a flexible oil spill model, which can be used as a 2D surface plume model,
water column 3D model. Both options include all relevant processes, including the
release of the oil to the water column. The oil spill model is based on Eulerian-Lag
unstructured grid discretizations and is coupled with the 3D hydrodynamic model S
of the Prestige oil spill disaster between 13 and 19 of November 2002 is presented
information for ship route. The 3D hydrodynamics in the Iberian Atlantic shelf w
forced by tides, wind and baroclinic gradients, while the 2D surface plume mod
surface oil slick trajectory. The boundary and initial conditions for salinity and temp
LEVITUS atlas while wind and wave data were retrieved from NCEP and WA
(NOAA, US). The oil plume trajectory validation was made against available s
application shows the good numerical behavior of the model, its ability to predict
reveals its potential as a management tool. The application also highlights the impor
forcings on the plume's pathway.

aditional index words: wind data, oil weathering, unstructured grids

INTRODUCTION Baptista, 2008), extended to simulate the pathways an

oil in the water column, with a 2D transport mo
In the last three decades, a significant increase in oil spills
Oliveira and Fortunato, 2002) that includes an oi
research studies has occurred, as a result of the severe
module. Both models use unstructured grids in horiz
consequences of recent spills. Several oil spill models in use today
3D model uses hybrid SZ coordinates in the v
present a wide range of capabilities adjusted to the end-users
weathering module includes the most relevant proces
needs. These capabilities can range from simple surface trajectory,
during a spill event: spreading, evaporation, emulsif
or particle-tracking models, to three-dimensional trajectory and
in-oil, dispersion, dissolution and shoreline retention
fate models that include simulation of response actions and
is highly versatile. The system can run in 2D, for si
estimation of the impacts on the biota (Reed et al, 1999). The
simulations of the surface slick, or in 3D mode,
usefulness of these models is widely accepted due to their ability
exhaustive "surface-water column" studies with the o
to generate quickly valuable information about an oil spill event,
processes activated. Due to the use of unstructure
with relatively low costs. There are two main areas of application
grids, the system can be run for different spatial scal
of such tools: the development and optimization of contingency
cross-scale simulations, from open-ocean (lo
plans; and operational purposes, in support of the decision makers
resolution) to the interior of estuaries and harbors (h
to take the appropriate choices of the combat measures.
resolution). The use of hybrid SZ vertical grids enabl
In order to develop an oil spill modeling system that
set the could
most be
suitable vertical resolution.
used in open ocean as well as inside estuaries or harbors, a new
This study presents the preliminary results of an a
unstructured grid Eulerian-Lagrangian system was built. This
the modeling system to the Prestige spill accident, wh
system couples a 3D hydrodynamic model (SELFE - Zhang and

Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 56, 2009

777

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 _Modeling the Prestige accident_

in November of 2002 near the Galicia Bank, located to the North in the references above.
Western part of the Iberian Peninsula. The focus of the paper is on The structure of the VOILS system was vaguely inspired in
the establishment of the modeling system and its validation MOSM (Multiphase Oil Spill Model - Tkalich, 2006). The domain
against the surface oil slick pathways. The impact of using several is divided in two layers: surface and water column. The surface
sources for wind data was also tested as well as considering wave slick thickness is determined by solving the layer-averaged
effects through an estimate of the Stokes drift. The paper starts Navier-Stokes equations and the 3D advection-diffusion equation
with a brief description of the modeling system and an overview is used to simulate oil dynamics in water column. The 3D
baroclinic shallow-water equations are solved first with SELFE,
of the Prestige accident. Then, the simulations and their setup are
provided. The paper closes with a discussion and a summary of thereby providing velocities, water levels and the vertical eddy
the major conclusions. diffusivities required to solve the transport models. Then, the
surface transport equation is solved by using the 2D transport
model. The surface processes advection, spreading, evaporation,
water-in-oil emulsification and shoreline retention are solved in
OVERVIEW OF THE PRESTIGE OIL SPILL
the VELA model with the oil weathering model incorporated.
On November 13, 2002, in stormy weather conditions, a serious
Finally, in 3D mode runs, the transport equations for the water
accident occurred with the oil tanker "PRESTIGE". The ship, with
column are determined with the tracers transport module
77000 tonnes of heavy fuel on board, was in danger of sinking
incorporated in SELFE.
because of a large crack on the starboard side of the hull. On
November 19, the ship structure collapsed, the tanker broke in
two, and a significant part of the tanker's cargo was spilled into Surface slick Model
sea, approximately 130 miles off the Spanish and Portuguese The modified VELA model consists in the coupling of the
Northwestern coast (42? 15' N/ 12? 08' W). During 6 days, from VELA transport model (Oliveira and Fortunato, 2002) with an oil
13 to 19 November, the ship was under extreme sea conditions of weathering module. The oil weathering module includes the most
waves in the order of 7-8 meters of significant height and periods relevant processes that occur during an oil spill event (e.g.
of approximately 15 seconds, spilling a considerable amount of oil spreading, evaporation, water-in-oil emulsification, shoreline
along his route, with the major release of oil occurring on the retention, dispersion, dissolution and sedimentation)
sinking day (November 19). The oil continued leaking from the This model uses an Eulerian-Lagrangian scheme to solve
ship until major holes in the hull were sealed in January 2003. equation 1:

MODEL DESCRIPTION ?dh

VOILS system
The modeling system described here (VOILS modeling system
- Wela OIL Selfe modeling system, Figure 1) couples two models:
the open source circulation model SELFE - Semi-Implicit
Eulerian-Lagrangian Finite-Element (Zhang and Baptista, 2008)
and the 2D Eulerian-Lagrangian transport model, VELA (Oliveira
and Fortunato, 2002), which are coupled to an Oil Weathering
Module which accounts for oil transformations at the surface and
in the water column. This section briefly presents the main
characteristics of each model. Detailed descriptions can be found
I characteristic lines; finally the diffusion equation is solved using a
+? d\hui)-D?
(l x d f^dh)
=RhD(l)
dt dxi dxt y dxi J
Here, h is the slick thickness; w, are the horizontal velocity
components (obtained from the circulation model); Rh are the
physical-chemical kinetic terms; D is the slick spreading-diffusion
function; t is the time; jc, are the horizontal Cartesian coordinates.
The transport equation (1), is decoupled in four equations: the
advection and the horizontal velocity gradients equations are
solved using a Lagrangian approach (Backward Method of
Characteristics); the sources and sinks, in which the oil weathering
algorithms are implemented, are determined at the foot of the
finite volume method in a time-space framework..

SELFE and water column oil Models

SELFE (www.stccmop.org/CORIE/modeling/selfe) is an open
source unstructured-grid model for 3D baroclinic circulation. This
model solves the 3D shallow-water equations with the hydrostatic
and Boussinesq approximations, and transport equations for salt
and heat. The numerical scheme of the model is based on a finite
element/flnite-volume scheme. The advection in the momentum
and transport equations are treated with Eulerian-Lagrangian
methods. The backtracking can be solved using either an Euler
scheme or a fifth-order embedded Runge-Kutta scheme. The
advection of the transport equation can be treated with an
Eulerian-Lagragian method (ELM), a finite-volume upwind
scheme or a TVD (Total Variation Diminishing) scheme.
The water column oil model is coupled with the hydrodynamic
model through a user-defined transport module which allows the
user to solve the transport equation along the water column, for
any number of tracers besides temperature and salinity. This
module can be roughly described as an adaptation of the
Figure 1. Scheme of the VOILS system. temperature and salinity transport algorithms to a generic tracer.

Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 56, 2009

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 _Azevedo et al_

The horizontal velocities, determined with SELFE, were

interpolated into the transport grid (see Figure 3), in order to
determine the trajectory of the oil slick using 2D VOILS. The
spatial resolution of the transport grid ranges approximately from
10 km offshore to 400 m (near the coast). The domain is restricted
to 41 ?N to 46.5 ?N and 14 ?W to 0 ?W.

Forcing Set-up
The initial conditions were established using the monthly
averages for salinity and temperature of the climatologic database
NODC_WOA98 (provided by NOAA/OAR/ESRLPSD, Boulder,
Colorado, USA, from their Web site at http://www.cdc.noaa.gov/).
The tidal boundary conditions were obtained from the CSR3.0
global ocean tide model (Eanes and Bettadpur, 1996).
The atmospheric forcing was obtained alternatively from
NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis (Kalnay et al, 1996) and
WaveWatchlll (WW3) model (Tolman et al., 2002). The 4-times
daily NCEP/NCAR data was interpolated from the T62 Gaussian
grid with 192x94 points (88.542?N-88.542?S; 0?E-358.125?E) to
the SELFE grid. The same type of interpolation was made to the
8-times daily WW3 data (resolution: 1.25? longitude; 1? latitude).
The WW3 wave data was also used to determined the Stokes
averaged current (Daniel et al, 2004), that was added to the
horizontal velocities determined with SELFE, in order to simulate
the influence of the waves on the surface oil slick trajectory.

Figure 2. Regional grid used in 3D SELFE hydrodynamic model

In SELFE the tracer's advection can be solved through an upwind 0.000000

0.000100
or a TVD schemes. The oil weathering component includes the 0.000200
processes of emulsification, dispersion and dissolution. The 0.000300
0.000400
VOILS system is based on SELFE version vl.5k2. 0.000500
o.oooeoo
0.000700
Simulation of the Prestige Accident 0.000800
0.000900
0.001000
Domain discretization 0.001 too
0.001200
The simulations for the PRESTIGE accident were done in a 2D 0.001300 0 100.0 fern
surface slick mode. The 3D hydrodynamics were first determined 0.001400
with the parallel version of SELFE (v2.0f). The horizontal
0.027500 Iberian Peninsula
Thick n#$$ (m)
unstructured grid used in SELFE ranges from 30.6 ?N to 48.5 ?N
and 20 ?W to 0 ?W (Figure 2). The spatial resolution of the
hydrodynamic grid ranges from approximately 30 km offshore to
1 km in the coastal areas. The batimetry was compiled from the
Smith & Sandwell 1 minute resolution database and from the
0.000000
Portuguese Navy charts (Instituto Hidrografico). 0.000100
0.000200
0.000300
0.000400
0.000500
o.oooeoo
0.000700
0.000800
0.000900
0.001000 EO02-NOV-17 10:30:00)
o.oo n oo
0.001200
0.001300
0.001400
0.027500 Iberian Peninsula
Thick n?$s (m)

b)
Figure 4. Results of the NCEP/NCAR wind test for the day 17
November 2002, 10:30 UTC. In a) NCEP/NCAR wind forcing; in
b) NCEP/NCAR wind forcing with the Stokes averaged current
Figure 3. Transport horizontal non-structured grid.

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 _Modeling the Prestige accident_

Simulations results and discussion

Several tests were made in order to determine the surface oil
slick trajectory of the Prestige accident, and to assess the
importance of the choice of the wind forcing and the Stokes drift.
The continuous oil release was made during 6 days (from 13th-19th
November 2002). Since the main goal of these simulations was to
reproduce the trajectory of the surface oil slick and to analyze its
dependency on the wind forcing and on the consideration of short
wave effects, all the weathering processes were deactivated. Due
to the transport grid spatial resolution, and to minimize eventual
numerical diffusion errors, the initial area of the spill had to be
slightly augmented. The validation of the volume of the spill and
the impact of the oil weathering processes in the oil at the surface
is out of the scope of this study.
Simulations were conducted forced by each of the sources of
wind. Figures 4 and 5 show the model results for the
NCEP/NCAR and WW3 wind set-ups, without (Figures 4a and
5a) and with the Stokes Drift (Figures 4b and 5b). The shape of
the oil plume between the days 13-17 November 2002 is mostly
due to the ship route, which was based on CEDRE reports (Cedre,
2004). The ship starts to drift in a Northeastward direction and
releases some oil on November 13th. On November 14th the ship
moves in a Northwestward direction until November 15th when it
changes its trajectory and heads South-Southeast. Both figures
show the surface oil slick simulations on November 17, 2002, at
10:30 UTC. This date was chosen in order to compare the model
results with the ENVISAT ASAR image (Figure 6), from the
ASAR sensor (Orbit: 3741; date: 17/11/2002, 10:45 UTC).
0.000000
0.000100
0.000200
0.000300
0.000400
0.000500
0.000600
0.000700
0.000800
0.000900
0.001000 I2002-NOV-17 10:30:00]
0.001100
0.001200
0.001300
0.001400
0.027500 ibtrlari Peninsula
Thickness (m)
a)
Figure 5. Results of the WW3 test for the day 17 November
2002, 10:30 UTC. In a) WW3 wind forcing; in b) WW3 wind
forcing with the Stokes averaged current._
Figure 6. Comparison of the model results with the ENVISAT
ASAR image for November 17, 2002.
Results show that the Stokes drift advects the plume an
additional 15 km towards the Northeast (Figure 4) or the East
Southeast (Figure 5). In both cases, the Stokes drift enables the
plume to arrive earlier to the shore, a conclusion that agrees with
Daniel etal (2004).
Nevertheless, the major differences are observed when
comparing the two simulations forced with distinct wind datasets.
In Figure 6, a comparison of the simulations with the two wind
databases oil plumes accounting the Stokes drift and the
ENVISAT image is made. The oil plume simulations are separated
about 85 km from each other along the Northeastern branch of the
slick. In NCEP/NCAR wind runs the plume is rapidly advected to
the Bay of Biscay in a Northeast direction. WW3 wind runs
presents almost opposite results, when the plume is advected in a
South-Southeast direction, along the coast. The main differences
between the two wind datasets are the spatial and time resolutions.
The NCEP/NCAR has a 1.875?xl.904? spatial resolution and a
time resolution of 6 hours. The WW3 dataset has a 1.25?xl?
spatial resolution and a time resolution of 3 hours, and is based on
reanalysis. Considering these differences, more exhaustive studies
with different wind datasets have to be explored, in order to get an
efficient oil spill modeling system for operational purposes and to
access the requirements for accurate prediction of oil trajectory
during an accident. Another source of errors in the oil trajectory
may be the poor information regarding the ship route. The lack of
this information can mislead the initial conditions of the release of
the oil in the sea environment. The Prestige case being a
continuous spill, the ship drift is of major important in the
trajectory simulation.
Considering these uncertainties, the oil spill modeling system
still presents good preliminary results. The simulated oil plume
shape is similar to the one observed in the satellite image, and the
most affected coastal areas of the Iberian Peninsula were also
correctly identified. The branching observed in the satellite image
and not reproduced by the model is probably due to sub-surface
oil transport and will be investigated in future 3D runs. Through
the analysis of Figure 6, it is possible that the model could be
overestimating the flow along the coast for the WW3 with Stokes
drift simulation. For the NCEP/NCAR simulations the flow is in
the Northeast direction, advecting the plume in this direction. In
order to explain the differences between the simulations and the

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 _Azevedo et ah_

satellite image and also to infer the sources of uncertainty Kalnay, e., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven,
involved, further tests have to be made. D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen,
J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W.,
Janowiak, J., Mo, K.C., Ropelewski, C, Wang, J., Leetmaa,
CONCLUSIONS A., Reynolds, R., Jenne, R., Joseph, D., 1996. The
NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bull. Amer. Meteor.
Soc. 11, 437-471.
The present work provided a validation of the effectiveness of
the developed modeling system in a well-documented real oil spill
Oliveira, A. and Fortunato, A.B., 2002. Towards an
accident. The VOILS system is extremely versatile, as a result of Oscillation-Free, Mass Conservative, Eulerian-Lagrangian
the capability to run in 2D or 3D mode, added to the use of Transport Model. Journal of Computational Physics, 183/1:
142-164.
unstructured horizontal grids and SZ vertical coordinates. The
possibility to activate each one of the weathering processes is Reed, M., Johansen, O., Brandvik, P.J., Daling, P., Lewis, A.,
another advantage of the system. The use of different models to Fiocco, R., Mackay, D., Prentki, R., 1999. Oil spill
determine the hydrodynamics and the oil transport adds the modeling towards the close of the 20th century: Overview of
capability to use distinct horizontal grids and time steps in each the state of the art. Spill Science & Technology Bulletin,
model. Vol.5(l), 3-16.
The model presents good preliminary results for the trajectory Tkalich, P., 2006. A CFD solution of oil spill problems.
of the Prestige oil plume. The simulated plume shape is consistent Environmental Modelling & Software, 21, 271-282.
with the ENVISAT image. The model was also able to identify the
Tolman, H.L., Balasubramaniyan, B., Burroughs, L.D.,
most affected areas, like the region between Cape Finisterre La
Chalikov, D.V., Chao, Y.Y., Chen, H.S., Gerald, V.M.,
Coruna and also Rias Baixas. Nevertheless, the uncertainty 2002. Development and implementation of wind generated
ocean surface wave models at NCEP. Weather and
associated with many factors such as the oil characteristics, the
route of the ship, the oil release conditions, the atmospheric Forecasting 17(2), 311-333.
forcing, particularly the wind data, has to be analyzed. This study Zhang, Y.L. and Baptista, A.M., 2008. SELFE: A semi-implicit
confirms some of the conclusions of Daniels et al. (2004), which Eulerian-Lagrangian finite-element model for cross-scale
stated that the use of high temporal resolution wind data is a major
ocean circulation. Ocean Modelling, 21(3-4), 71-96.
necessity in operational oil spill oceanic systems.

LITERATURE CITED
CEDRE, 2004. Archives du PRESTIGE: Naufrage d'un petrolier
au largedu cap Finisterre (Galice) 13 Novembre 2002. Centre
de documentation, de recherche et d'experimentations sur les
pollutions accidentelles des eaux - CEDRE (France), Version
1.1, CD format.
Daniel, P., Josse, P., Dandin, P., Lefevre, J.M., Lery, G.,
Cabioc'h, F., Gouriou, V., 2004. Forecasting the Prestige oil
spills, Interspill 2004, Presentation No. 402.
Eanes, R. and Bettadpur, S., 1996. The CSR3.0 global ocean
tide model: Diurnal and semi-diurnal tides from
TOPEX/POSEIDON altimetry. Technical Report CRS-TM-96
05, Centre for Space Research, University of Texas, Austin,
Texas.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was partially funded by the Fundacao Luso
Americana para o Desenvolvimento, project "Towards a nowcast
forecast system for estuarine and coastal water quality" (600
04/06) and by Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, through
the Doctoral Grant of the first author (SFRH/BD/22124/2005).
The authors thank Mr. Mario Costa for the technical support
associated with the use of the MEDUSA Advanced Computation
Cluster. The authors also thank Prof. Joseph Zhang (CMOP,
OHSU) for making the SELFE model available.
The authors thank to NOAA for the atmospheric and wave data
used in this study and European Space Agency for the
ENVISAT/ASAR satellite image.
Finally the authors thank to CEDRE for the documentation
provided in the CD, "Archives du PRESTIGE".

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