Comparison of a personal computer oil spill model with a supercomputer model

There are a number of oil spill trajectory and fate models operating on personal computers, mainframes and supercomputers. These models are used for rapid response, training and contingency planning. The purpose of this study is to compare the results of oil spill models operating on personal computers to those operating on supercomputers when they are used for emergency response. Specific attention is focused on the three-dimensional hydrodynamic model, oil fate and transport model that must be run on a supercomputer. The SUPER-SLIKC model was chosen for the comparative study because it is the only such model. A PC model, FSU-SLIKC was selected for the study because it contains all the features of PC based oil spill models, and was considered representative of PC based models. The predictions of these two models were compared to observations with the aim of assessing their relative accuracy. 32 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs