TY - JOUR
T1 - Surface evolution of the deepwater horizon oil spill patch
T2 - Combined effects of circulation and wind-induced drift
AU - Le Hénaff, Matthieu
AU - Kourafalou, Vassiliki H.
AU - Paris, Claire B.
AU - Helgers, Judith
AU - Aman, Zachary M.
AU - Hogan, Patrick J.
AU - Srinivasan, Ashwanth
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2012/7/3
Y1 - 2012/7/3
N2 - Following the Deepwater Horizon blowout, major concerns were raised about the probability that the Loop Current would entrain oil at the surface of the Gulf of Mexico toward South Florida. However, such a scenario did not materialize. Results from a modeling approach suggest that the prevailing winds, through the drift they induced at the ocean surface, played a major role in pushing the oil toward the coasts along the northern Gulf, and, in synergy with the Loop Current evolution, prevented the oil from reaching the Florida Straits. This implies that both oceanic currents and surface wind-induced drift must be taken into account for the successful forecasting of the trajectories and landfall of oil particles, even in energetic environments such as the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, the time range of these predictions is limited to the weather forecasting range, in addition to the range set up by ocean forecasting capabilities.
AB - Following the Deepwater Horizon blowout, major concerns were raised about the probability that the Loop Current would entrain oil at the surface of the Gulf of Mexico toward South Florida. However, such a scenario did not materialize. Results from a modeling approach suggest that the prevailing winds, through the drift they induced at the ocean surface, played a major role in pushing the oil toward the coasts along the northern Gulf, and, in synergy with the Loop Current evolution, prevented the oil from reaching the Florida Straits. This implies that both oceanic currents and surface wind-induced drift must be taken into account for the successful forecasting of the trajectories and landfall of oil particles, even in energetic environments such as the Gulf of Mexico. Consequently, the time range of these predictions is limited to the weather forecasting range, in addition to the range set up by ocean forecasting capabilities.
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U2 - 10.1021/es301570w
DO - 10.1021/es301570w
M3 - Article
C2 - 22676453
AN - SCOPUS:84863508409
VL - 46
SP - 7267
EP - 7273
JO - Environmental Science & Technology
JF - Environmental Science & Technology
SN - 0013-936X
IS - 13
ER -