Simulating and visualizing marine oil spills

The main goals of this thesis are to develop a system to simulate and visualize the dynamics of a marine oil spill. This necessitates the development of computational models of the properties of petroleum, the containing environment, and a melding of them into a consistent simulation of the fate and transport of oil spills. Techniques of computer graphics will be applied to present the state of this system as a visual output. Through a large set of accessible parameters and data, the variation of the system in terms of spill simulation, and model tuning, will be visualized over both time and space. The resulting system is a combination of research from a spectrum of scientific and technological areas. It provides a means of abstracting the problem of pollution through an accessible and consistent collection of mathematical models, and presents its results for interpretation through visualization. As a practical illustration of the system, it will be tested and verified in the region of southwestern British Columbia.Science, Faculty ofComputer Science, Department ofGraduat