The Aegean sea marine security decision support system

Abstract

As part of the integrated ECOOP (European Coastal Sea Operational observing and Forecasting System) project, HCMR upgraded the already existing standalone Oil Spill Forecasting System for the Aegean Sea, initially developed for the Greek Operational Oceanography System (POSEIDON), into an active element of the European Decision Support System (EuroDeSS). The system is accessible through a user friendly web interface where the case scenarios can be fed into the oil spill drift model component, while the synthetic output contains detailed information about the distribution of oil spill particles and the oil spill budget and it is provided both in text based ECOOP common output format and as a series of sequential graphics. The main development steps that were necessary for this transition were the modification of the forcing input data module in order to allow the import of other system products which are usually provided in standard formats such as NetCDF and the transformation of the model's calculation routines to allow use of current, density and diffusivities data in <i>z</i> instead of sigma coordinates. During the implementation of the Aegean DeSS, the system was used in operational mode in order to support the Greek marine authorities in handling a real accident that took place in North Aegean area. Furthermore, the introduction of common input and output files by all the partners of EuroDeSS extended the system's interoperability thus facilitating data exchanges and comparison experiments

An operational model for the West Iberian coast: products and services

“…Oil spill models usually have a 3-D numerical model to calculate the pollutant transport (vertical movement), as well as its weathering (dispersion, evaporation, emulsification, dissolution, beaching and sedimentation). Oil spill operational models have proven to be particularly useful in accidents involving cargo ships (Perivoliotis et al, 2011;González et al, 2008;Breivik et al, 2011), thus becoming widespread during the last decades. Some of these operational systems have developed into Marine Security Decision Support Systems (DeSS) capable of use and exchange with other systems (e.g.…”

“…Some of these operational systems have developed into Marine Security Decision Support Systems (DeSS) capable of use and exchange with other systems (e.g. Perivoliotis et al, 2011), thus leading to the creation of the European Decision Support System (EuroDeSS).…”

Environmental Decision Support Systems for Monitoring Small Scale Oil Spills: Existing Solutions, Best Practices and Current Challenges

“…MEDESS-4MS offers a range of service scenarios, access to multiple models tuned for specific Mediterranean areas, and interactive capabilities to suit the needs of Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea (REMPEC) and EMSA. Such variegated prediction services are based on the comparison of oil spill simulation exercises carried out during EU projects, such as ECOOP [29], MERSEA-IP [30], MyOcean [31], and NEREIDs [8,32], which include well-established oil spill models of the Mediterranean region, as well as new oil plume models to simulate the oil from spills located at any given depth below the sea surface [33]. Although the approach of MEDESS-4MS is comprehensive, it is focused on prediction services and, thus, its direct impact on the routine workflow of regional stakeholders is limited.…”

Numerical Modeling of Oil Pollution in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea

“…The POSEIDON OSM has also been used operationally, providing support to the Greek marine authorities during real accidents in 2009, in the North Aegean Sea [31], and also detection services through SAR image analyses. The system has also been used as a forecasting service for the effective management of oil spill incidents in the Greek Seas (ESA funded projects: ROSES, MARCOAST).…”

“…This was achieved through the integration of ECOOP standard input and output formats, which extended the systems' interoperability, allowing data exchange and comparison experiments between different numerical models. During the implementation of the Aegean module of DESS, the system was used in operational mode in order to support the Greek marine authorities in their response to a real accident that took place in the North Aegean in 2009 [31].…”