On the effects of wave-induced drift and dispersion in the deepwater horizon oil spill

The objective of this work is to provide an indication of the effects of waveinduced movement of oil on the sea surface in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. By making use of modeled wave fields, satellite altimeter, and buoy data, mean trajectories and wave-induced oil spreading are computed for some of the storm events which took place during the accident. The effects of mean Stokes' drift are confirmed to be an important element in most situations, causing spill movements of 30 km and more in about 5 days. The diffusion due to random wave movement is also shown to be relevant at least for smaller spills; for large accidents, its effects are less important, but it still has an influence on some aspects of the oil spreading. © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union