A New Mixing Diagnostic and Gulf Oil Spill Movement

Abstract

Modeling the future movement of chaotic fluids is the basis for predicting the weather and ocean currents. Usually parcels of fluid are traced and geometrical and statistical approaches incorporate parameters for mixing and chaos, as well as the resulting uncertainty. Mezić et al. (p. 486 , published online 2 September; see the Perspective by Thiffeault ) adapted this approach to consider different mixing and stretching regimes to improve predictions. As a test, they simulated and successfully predicted the spread of oil patches from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in a model for the Gulf of Mexico.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Oct 22, 2010
Source ID
10.1126/science.1194607

Entities

People

  • Igor Mezić
  • P. Hogan
  • S. Loire
  • Vladimir A. Fonoberov

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory
  • University of California, Santa Barbara

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Maritime Security/Maritime Homeland Security