ESTIMATES OF OIL SPILL DISPERSION EXTENT IN THE NEARSHORE ALASKAN BEAUFORT SEA BASED ON IN-SITU OCEANOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS
99516-2617 This page intentionally left blank. This report describes analyses designed to estimate the distance and direction an oceanic oil spill could travel during each of the two primary circulation regimes found in the near-shore Beaufort Sea: 1) under landfast ice during winter and 2) in open...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2007
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| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.204.7978 http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/ipp/docs/Beaufort%20Current%20Report.pdf |
| Summary: | 99516-2617 This page intentionally left blank. This report describes analyses designed to estimate the distance and direction an oceanic oil spill could travel during each of the two primary circulation regimes found in the near-shore Beaufort Sea: 1) under landfast ice during winter and 2) in open water or partial ice cover during summer. This information will aid the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) in oil spill response planning. Year-round measurements were made at six separate nearshore sites over the course of five calendar years, for a total of 14 instrument-years of data. Many measurements were made in relatively close proximity to oil production activities. Analyses are based on the progressive vector diagram, which follows the path that a hypothetical particle would take if released at the mooring site and then is subsequently freely advected by the ocean currents. The analyses comprise our best estimate of particle displacements over short time periods based upon in-situ oceanographic data from the North Slope. Results allow us to place approximate bounds on the distance an |
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