Modeling of mesoscale circulation and oil pollution spreading in the Georgian coastal area of the Black Sea under real atmospheric forcing

Abstract

The paper presents some results of numerical experiments on modeling mesoscale circulation and oil spill propagation in the coastal zone of Georgia and adjacent waters. Calculations of circulation and thermohaline fields are performed using a regional numerical model of the Black Sea dynamics based on solving the full system of ocean hydrothermodynamics equations using the method of splitting into physical processes, coordinate planes and lines. A 2-D advection–diffusion equation of impurity is applied to simulate and forecast oil slick transport. Numerical experiments conducted under conditions of real non-stationary atmospheric forcing with a horizontal resolution of 1km have shown that circulation in the southeastern region is characterized by the generation of cyclonic and anticyclonic eddies with diameters from about 5-8 km to 200 km. Mesoscale eddies make a significant contribution to the spread of oil pollution.