Computer simulation of the Shetland oil spill

Model predictions of the movement of oil released during the Shetland oil spill in January 1993 commenced immediately following the grounding of the Braer. The initial forecast, made with a 5 nautical mile grid model, predicted oil along the west coast of the island but were too coarse to resolve the coastal bathymetry and circulation. This forced the development of a fine grid (924m) hydrodynamic model of the region which was interfaced to surface wind forecasts and meshed to a shelf-wide storm surge model. (author)