The Hydroinformatics Institute (H2i), working with science and technology solutions company RPS APASA, developed and maintains a fully-operational, web-based oil spill model, which takes into consideration the impact of hydrodynamics, wind, and other factors. The model aids in identifying the potential impact of oil spill incidents in Singapore’s coastal waters.

The model anticipates how oil behaves after a spill, taking into account both the weathering and transport of spilled oil. This includes spreading on the surface, vertical and horizontal dispersion, advection due to wind and currents, emulsification, dissolution, evaporation and whether the oil is beached or settled on the seabed.

H2i provides downscaled wind fields for the Singapore region using a WRF model, and current fields using a fine resolution (50m in the area of interest) hydrodynamic model. RPS APASA uses this information to perform on-demand oil spill simulation which can be initiated by the client through RPS APASA’s web-based oil spill response and contingency planning tool, OILMAP.

Such models have multiple potential uses for agencies and organisations that need to anticipate the impact of such spills on the marine and coastal environments, and put into place the necessary mitigation measures.