Trajectory modelling for hypothetical oil spill in Odisha offshore, India.

Numerical oil spill trajectory modelling aims at predicting and forecasting the movement of the oil spill. This paper discusses trajectory oil spill modelling for the hypothetical oil spills in the Bay of Bengal, off the Odisha coast. The models have been simulated in different locations of Odisha offshore for various weather conditions. The result showed that the northeast monsoon drives the slick faster than the southwest monsoon. A spill from 85 to 110 km away from the beach reached the coastline with higher speed in the cyclonic period. At the same time, the spill location at 70 km away from the coast could not reach the coast; this implies direction and speed of the wind and current play a critical role in spill movement. The fate budget of spill oil shows about 36% of evaporation happened in each case which shows that the period of spill and distance are not impacting the fate of oil. The direction of oil slick movement and speed are essential to understand the beaching of the oil pollutant at the shore. The study concluded that wind and ocean currents significantly influence oil spill movement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]