Oil Spill Information Sources

Skidaway Institute scientists assembled this list of Web sites with information on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and it’s potential effect on Georgia.

This is not intended to be a complete list.

Atlantic Sea Grant Site

Links and information for several Atlantic coast states, including Georgia.

The NOAA Office of Response and Restoration (NOAA National Ocean Service) is  providing coordinated scientific weather and biological response services to federal, state and local organizations.

Daily update page:

Includes links to daily forecast trajectory maps – these show plume boundaries but do not represent the underlying surface currents, so not very satisfying from an oceanographic perspective.   As reported on the website, there are regular aircraft surveys (e.g., Coast Guard) to try to document surface slick boundaries.

Also links to a number of other NOAA and other agency web sites that provide spill impact/response information (including the following NWS site).

“GeoPlatform” web site

Online GIS mapping tool developed by NOAA and the University of New Hampshire Coastal Response Research Center.  Lots of information layers can be plotted, including wind, currents and spill trajectory forecasts.

National Weather Service “Deepwater Horizon Decision Support Page”

Marine forecasts in the spill-affected area, links to observations, model forecasts, satellite imagery.  Lots of graphics links.

NASA satellite imagery and information from aircraft sensors

Recent and earlier imagery from NASA satellites and aircraft sensors (e.g., high spectral resolution radiometers) and descriptions of the sensor systems and various survey results.

IOOS Deepwater Horizon web site

Hosted by Rutgers COOL web site.  A number of the Rutgers glider “fleet” have been deployed to the shelf/slope off Louisiana and along the West Florida shelf.  Lots of links to recent glider sections, and other webs sites for models, satellite imagery, surface drifter tracks.

Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association (SECOORA) information pages compiling links to various sources of information on the oil spill:

Hindcast/forecast results from several numerical models. These generally hindcast 1 day and forecast 2-3 days.  Some use recent satellite data (visible imagery, and perhaps synthetic aperture radar, SAR) to update the best guess of the surface oil plume boundaries.

see “Global HYCOM”, “Navy GOM HYCOM”, “SABGOM” model run links.

Satellite imagery using high resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), visible imagery (MODIS) and some high resolution photography (SPOT).  Imagery at this web site is acquired and processed by the Center for Southeastern Tropical Advanced Remote Sensing (CSTARS) group at the University of Miami (RSMAS).  SAR imagery is from Canadian, European and Italian satellites (some being operated by private company/government agency consortia, e.g., the Italian “COSMO-Med”).

CSTARS Site 1

CSTARS Site 2

ROFFS (Roffer’s Ocean Fishing Forecasting Service, a private firm) isutting together their best estimates of the surface oil plume from satellite SST and ocean color data products overlaid on estimated surface currents.  There was a gap in early June, but it looks like they have resumed regular updates.

Gulf Oil Spill & Georgia Update 6-11-10

Dr. Dana Savidge provides the following update on the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current and the Deep Horizon Oil Spill.

At present a Loop Current Ring has separated from the northernmost portion of the Loop Current, and stands between the Deep Horizon well and the Loop Current itself, so that most of the spilled oil has not been entrained into this strong current.  Over time, that ring may reattach and detach several times, and will eventually drift gradually westward in the Gulf of Mexico.  When that happens, the Loop Current may eventually re-extend into the northeastern Gulf, and entrain spilled oil into the Loop Current.