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| Questions and answers about the development, updating, and use of OR&R's spill response and planning software products. |
ADIOS2 • top
Here are answers to questions about development, updating, installing, and using OR&R's oil weathering model, ADIOS2. Visit the ADIOS2 section of our site to learn more about this software.
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Q. I'm having trouble viewing the ADIOS2 manual on my Windows-based computer.
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A. For help with this issue, contact the ADIOS Specialist.
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Q. Does ADIOS2 have any bugs?
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| A. No. An earlier ADIOS version contained the following bug, which has been corrected:
Some ADIOS2 estimates of initial benzene concentration were too high by two orders of magnitude. That is, ADIOS reported a benzene concentration of 200 ppm when it should have reported a concentration of 2 ppm. The bug was manifested only if the ADIOS2 oil properties library did not include an initial benzene fraction in the selected oil. It was the default estimation routine which had the bug. To check whether ADIOS2 has an initial benzene fraction value for an oil of interest: (1) select that oil from the oils and products list, (2) click Oil Information, (3) click the More Properties tab, and then (4) see whether there's a value for "benzene" (if not, "--" appears).
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Q. Can you tell me about the algorithms that ADIOS2 uses to make its predictions?
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| A. You can find this information in the ADIOS2 Help topics, under Program Structure. You also might want to read the following reference:
Lehr, W., D. Wesley, D. Simecek-Beatty, R. Jones, G. Kachook, and J. Lankford. 2000. Algorithm and interface modifications of the NOAA oil spill behavior model. Pp. 525-540. In Proceedings of the Twenty-Third Arctic and Marine Oilspill Program (AMOP) Technical Seminar, June 14-16, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Volume 2. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Environment Canada.
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| Related Pages on Our Site |
- ADIOS2 ADIOS is an oil weathering model that incorporates an extensive database of crude oils and refined products, and provides quick estimates of the expected changes in an oil's properties once it has spilled.
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Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW) • top
Here are answers to questions about development, updating, installing, and using the Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW).
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Q. What is the latest version of the CRW?
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| A. The latest CRW is version 2.0.2, released on March 20, 2009, which you can download now from the CRW download page.
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Q. What recent changes have you made to the CRW?
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A. CRW 2.0 (currently 2.0.2) offers these new features:
- a new FileMaker Runtime user interface, which makes it compatible with the latest computer operating systems.
- the capability for building a custom chemical database containing all the materials that are present at your particular facility.
- a display of the potential gaseous products for any given mixture for which gases are predicted, along with literature citations for those gases.
- full literature citations for many of the predicted hazards.
- the ability to add water to any chemical mixture by clicking a button on the Mixture Worksheet.
A list of all the major changes to the CRW is available on the CRW Development History page.
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Q. Is there a way to include water as one of the chemicals in the "mixture"?
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| A. Water can be included in any mixture by clicking the "Add Water" button in the mid-right section of the Mixture Worksheet.
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Q. I used the CRW to "mix" some chemicals together. It predicted "No reaction expected." Should I trust this prediction?
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A. We believe that the CRW accurately predicts whether or not a reaction will occur between two chemicals that you select. But sometimes, there's more to the story. For instance, to predict the reactivity of a mixture of more than two chemicals, the CRW predicts the reactivity between all possible pairs of those chemicals. But sometimes, three or more chemicals can react together in ways the CRW can't predict. In some cases, for example, a chemical may catalyze (speed up) the reaction between two other chemicals, making that reaction more violent than the CRW would predict.
The CRW alerts you to numerous hazards, but you need to check the information it shows you about each chemical--not just the information on the Mixture Worksheet--to see this.
- Mixture Worksheet After you have studied the predicted hazards for the mixture, click the "Mixture Documentation" tab. Here you can find documentation for research that has been conducted related to this combination of chemicals. Keep in mind that the results of this research or the described events may not match the results of your mixture, possibly because of the chemicals being slightly different, or the scenario or conditions being different, etc.
- Chemical Datasheet For information about a chemical in your mixture, from the Mixture Worksheet, double-click on the name of that chemical. The Chemical Datasheet provides a general description of the chemical, as well as its special hazards. Also click the datasheet's "Reactivity" tab to view the chemical profile and reactive group, and to learn if the chemical is air or water reactive.
- Compatibility Table Click the populated cells of this table. In the "Hazard Summary," you will see the "legend" for the hazard codes for each of the combinations of chemicals. Also check the "Potential Gases" tab and the "Pot. Gases Documentation" tab to learn more about gas products that may result from the chemical mixture.
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Q. When I combined nitric acid and sodium hydrosulfide, one of the hazard statements was "combination liberates gaseous products." Can the CRW tell me what flammable gases could be expected?
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| A. Yes. Click the "Potential Gases" tab in the lower section of the Compatibility Table. You can see that sodium hydrosulfide mixed with nitric acid produces hydrogen sulfide and acid fumes.
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Q. What are "reactive groups"? I've never heard that term before.
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| A. To develop the CRW, we assigned each chemical in its database to one or more reactive groups. These are categories of chemicals that react in similar ways because they are similar in their chemical structure. (To see descriptions of all the reactive groups we defined, from the Reactivity Mixture worksheet, click "Add Reactive Group".) To predict the reactivity of a mixture of chemicals, the CRW first identifies the reactive groups to which the chemicals belong, and then predicts the kinds of reactivity likely to occur when members of these groups are mixed together. You can add reactive groups as well as specific chemicals to a mixture (and you may want to do this if you know, for example, that a substance is, say, a base, but don't know its name or CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service) registry number). To add a reactive group to a mixture, from the Reactivity Mixture worksheet, click "Add Reactive Group", click the name of the group you want to add, then click "Add Selected Group to Worksheet".
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Q. Can I add as many chemicals as I want to a mixture?
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| A. The current limit is 50 chemicals.
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Q. Does the CRW have any bugs?
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A. There are no known bugs in the CRW at this time. To learn more about the changes that have been made to the CRW over the years, and bugs that were corrected, see the CRW Development History page.
A few notes:
- Mixture save files are not compatible between versions of the CRW. For example, if you saved mixtures in version 1.5, the save file will not work properly in version 1.7. Unfortunately, you must recreate the mixtures. Also, note that the database of chemicals changes between versions. Some chemicals may no longer be in the database and some mixture results may change.
- In the past, some Windows users have experienced printing problems. If you experience this, press the Print button, then click Save to save your work as a text file; you then can print the text file normally.
- Also, some Windows users have reported background colors changing to black and white or other color combinations while the program is running. The colors return to normal once you exit the program.
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Q. Is there a way I can add more chemicals to the CRW's database?
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| A. Yes, to add proprietary materials to CRW 2.0, click the "Add Custom Chemicals" button. In this section, you can add, view, edit, and delete your custom chemicals.
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Q. Do we need to obtain either individual or site licenses to use the CRW?
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| A. No. CRW 2.0 was created with FileMaker Pro, a 32-bit, cross-platform, fully relational database program that allows us to 'bundle' the chemical data with the FileMaker Runtime engine so that our users can use the chemical data without purchasing any additional software.
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Q. Can we run the CRW from our server?
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| A. The CRW 2.0 FileMaker Runtime version may be run off of a server.
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Q. Is the Windows version a 16-bit or 32-bit application?
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A. The FileMaker Runtime (CRW 2.0) is a 32-bit application. It runs in Windows XP and Vista, as well as any Macintosh version of OSX.
The Oracle Media Objects Player (CRW versions previous to 2.0) was a 16-bit application. It ran in Windows 3.1, as well as in Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, and XP.
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Q. What kind of software is the CRW?
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A. Beginning with version 2.0, the CRW was created with FileMaker Pro, a 32-bit, cross-platform, fully relational database program that allows us to 'bundle' the chemical data with the FileMaker Runtime engine.
In previous versions, the CRW ("reactive.sta" and supporting files) was an Oracle Media Objects "stack" (much like a HyperCard stack) that ran on Macintosh computers and in Microsoft Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, and XP. To run, it needed the runtime application "OMOPlayer" (on a Macintosh) or "Omoplay.exe" (in Windows) and supporting files, which were all distributed with the CRW.
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Q. Who created the CRW?
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| A. The CRW was developed by the Chemical Reactivity Team at the Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R), National Ocean Service, NOAA, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS).
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| Related Pages on Our Site |
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- CRW Toolkit Resources for Chemical Reactivity Worksheet (CRW) users.
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GNOME: Diagnostic Mode • top
Questions and answers about GNOME's diagnostic mode.
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Q. What do I need to make my own Location File or Diagnostic Save File?
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A. Most people make their own Diagnostic Save Files. Unless you plan to market a Location File, you can put all the same physics in a Save File without having to construct the Wizard expert system or the dialog boxes. What you'll need are:
- Vector map of the shoreline
- Hydrodynamic model output for the currents
- Estimate of the eddy mixing
- Wind forecast
You can get the latest input/output data formats and the GNOME format documentation in the GNOME Data Formats document. Example data files are discussed in the documentation and are also available.
MOSS file format information is available in the NOAA HAZMAT Report, Digital Distribution Standard for NOAA Trajectory Analysis Information. See Appendix A of the report for the MOSS standard input file format.
Note: The data files have been compressed (zipped) so that you can download them from the Internet. Follow these steps (in a new window) to uncompact them. Once you've uncompacted the data files, you can open them in a text editor or in GNOME.
If you have questions about the GNOME data formats, you can send them to the GNOME Wizard. Questions are answered weekly (usually on Fridays) as time permits, with spill response and other duties taking precedence.
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Q. How do I open GNOME's Diagnostic Mode?
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| A. To change to Diagnostic Mode, from the File menu, choose Preferences. In the Preferences window, click the Mode tab then, under Model Mode, choose Diagnostic. (If you want to work predominantly in Diagnostic Mode, you can instruct GNOME to open in that mode each time it starts up. On the right side of the Preferences window, under Startup Model Mode, choose Diagnostic.) When you change to Diagnostic Mode, GNOME will alert you that you are changing to a mode that requires detailed knowledge of trajectory modeling, and will suggest that you first save your Location File settings.
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Q. Can I use my own currents or winds in Diagnostic Mode?
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| A. Yes, you can import maps, currents, estimates of eddy mixing, and winds into GNOME. See the answer to the question, "What do I need to make my own Location File or Diagnostic Save File?" above.
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Q. Where can I get digital shoreline data easily?
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| A. The USGS Coastline Extractor is a source of detailed coastline data for the U.S. and the world. We are working to make GNOME accept one of the Coastline Extractor formats. You can still use the data files now, but you will need to modify them to follow bna format. The Coastline Extractor page also makes river locations and political boundaries available; however, you should check that any political boundaries in your area of interest are up-to-date.
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Q. Will I ever be allowed to "paint" in my current vectors?
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| A. No. Algorithms that "spread" velocities between observations by simple smoothing operations do not conserve mass or water, in our experience. We require hydrodynamic model output for currents so that the current fields reflect the physics the user intends: mass conservation, Coriolis effects, geostrophic balance, Ekman dynamics, etc.
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Q. What are the arrows on the map?
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| A. Arrows indicate (1) velocity vectors if "Show velocities" is selected on one of the current patterns or (2) movement distance in one timestep if "Show Currents" is selected under Model Settings.
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Q. Why do the movement arrows look strange?
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| A. Try turning off or scaling down the Random diffusion. Depending on the currents, the diffusion can add a little randomness to the pattern or completely dominate it. The Windage setting in the Variable Winds window may also cause this. Normal values of windage are 1 - 4 percent.
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Q. Why are the arrows so far apart?
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| A. We'd bet you are looking at the Movement grid with the zoom set far out. Try zooming in on an area of interest, and the arrows should look better (closer together in absolute distance). The spacing of the arrows for the movement grid is calculated on the map window size; the size of the arrows is calculated on map scale. Zooming in will increase the size of the arrows and their apparent spacing.
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Q. What are the triangles where the water should be?
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| A. "Show Grid" must be selected for one or more of the current patterns. This shows the finite element grid used for creating the current pattern.
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Q. Why is my spill just a single dot that I can hardly see?
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| A. You probably have the diffusion turned off. Try a very low value of diffusion (e.g. 50 cm2/sec) so that you can see the spill, without allowing the diffusion to dominate the model outcome.
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Q. Does the GNOME ArcView Extension work with the new ArcGIS Desktop versions (i.e., 8.x, 9.x) or does it only work with ArcView 3.x?
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| A. The GNOME ArcView extension is for 3.x. You can use the GNOME trajectory import tool, created in May, 2005, to import GNOME "splots" or NOAA trajectory products into ArcMap 9.x. Both tools are available in the GNOME Toolkit.
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Q. Where can I find model data for my region?
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| A. The OceanWatch Web site is a source that provides satellite sea surface heights (SSH)-derived currents and winds. Click the link for "Live Access Server (LAS) for Satellite Imagery and Data," then select a link for "Sea-Surface Height and Geostrophic Currents" or "QuikSCAT Ocean Surface Winds." Export the data as NetCDF files.
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| Related Pages on Our Site |
- GNOME The GNOME Development team has released a Location File for New York Harbor, plus an updated GNOME 1.3.0!
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- GNOME References Here are references for some of GNOME's methodologies and uses.
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GNOME: General Questions • top
Here are answers to questions about development, updating, installing, and using OR&R's oil spill trajectory model, GNOME.
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Q. I can't create movies. What's the problem?
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| A. Most likely, you just need to install QuickTime [free download from Apple Computer]. Both Windows and Macintosh users need QuickTime to view movies. It's also possible that you don't have enough hard drive space for the moving-making process and writing out the movie file. When there's too little space, GNOME appears to go through the process of making a movie, but no file appears.
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Q. Why can’t I include a GNOME-produced movie in my Windows PowerPoint presentation?
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A. A GNOME QuickTime Movie (.mov) file may not play in PowerPoint on a computer running Windows, even if you have QuickTime installed. You may need to convert the file to an .avi (Audio Video Interleave) file. One of our users reported that he had successfully used the converter tool, "mov2avi", from Digital Digest (see link, below). He used the command line "mov2avi.exe" with no compression, e.g., "mov2avi gnome_output.mov -c19", where the -c19 means choose option 19 for CODEC, which is "none".
| Related Links |
| MOV2AVI A tool available on the Digital Digest Web site for converting Apple QuickTime MOV files to Audio Video Interleave AVI files. [leaves OR&R site] |
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Q. Why don't my GNOME dialog boxes display properly (in Windows)? In particular, the wind dialog box has the bull's eye partially hidden.
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A. You need to set the screen display to 640 * 480 pixels or higher. There are two ways to do this:
- In the Start Menu, point to Settings, then to Control Panels. Select Display to get the Display Properties dialog, then select the Settings Tab and change your settings.
- Place your cursor on an empty portion of the screen, then depress the right mouse button to view a popup menu. From the menu, select Properties to view the Display Properties dialog. Select the Settings Tab, and change your settings.
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Q. (Macintosh only) Some of the dialog boxes are too big to fit on my display. I can't seem to cancel out of them easily. What should I do?
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| A. The Macintosh version is set for a screen resolution of greater than 640 * 480 on a 15-inch monitor. If your resolution and screen size don't allow you to see the entire dialog box, you can move it so that you can see the bottom. Ordinarily when you grab a dialog box with the cursor, you can't move it far enough up to make the top bar move out of view. Here's the trick: If you very carefully grab it with the cursor on the very outer side edge, you can them move it up as high on your monitor's real estate as you would like (this was a new trick for the GNOME Wizard, so if it's new to you, don't feel bad). You may also wish to change your monitor's resolution to something higher.
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Q. Could we see graphics of the tides and the wind on the screen?
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| A. These enhancements are planned, but not yet implemented.
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Q. How do I know which spill listed in the left section of the map window corresponds to which particular spill on the map?
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| A. A feature added to GNOME 1.2.6 offers some help with this problem. Beginning with this version, when you create a spill, you can name the spill in the dialog box. Then, in the left section of the Spill Information window, the spill name will document the details of your spill (pollutant type, quantity released, release time and position, and mass balance). We are still working on a feature that will help you match each spill name in the left section with its corresponding spill on the map.
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Q. Can you provide some documentation on the GNOME methodology?
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| A. We're still working on the technical documentation for GNOME, and we'll make it available at this website as soon as we can. See the GNOME References page (link at page bottom) for GNOME-related publications.
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Q. Has the GNOME model been verified?
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| A. The GNOME model is used in all NOAA Emergency Response Division (ERD) spill responses that require modeling. The model's algorithms function perfectly, but the user is the key to setting up the model in Diagnostic Mode for spill response. Since the primary forces that move the oil (wind, currents, etc.) are not generated by GNOME, but input by the user, then the user is ultimately responsible for the results.
During spill response at NOAA ERD, the trajectory analyst selects the physics she believes is most appropriate for the spill and sets up the model accordingly. She selects the appropriate hydrodynamic model for the currents, simulating tides and hydrology as necessary, obtains a wind forecast from the NOAA National Weather Service, and estimates other parameters from reviewed literature and experience. Once the model is set up, a prediction is made and later compared with overflight information from onscene. If the current and wind predictions are accurate, and if the windage and diffusion parameters are set accurately in GNOME, then GNOME will generate very good trajectories. A 48-hour prediction of where the oil will go can be expected to be within 1-2 miles. If the model and observations differ, hindcast model runs are made to tune the model to the local conditions before the next forecast is made. The forecast winds and currents are usually not accurate enough to generate trajectories within 1 mile of accuracy after 48 hours. This is why GNOME supports user-specified uncertainty bounds, which are set according to the uncertainty in the input data. This is also why the GNOME input data is constantly updated during an event, and the model is rerun at least once a day during a spill.
Making predictions in tidally dominated areas is much easier than in eddy-rich offshore environments. The availability of local real-time data and good wind forecasts (from the NOAA National Weather Service) are key to good spill trajectory estimates.
The Location Files are tuned to simulate local climatological conditions to the best of our knowledge. Though tides are predictable, other environmental conditions are not so simple. Location Files are not appropriate for spill response, just as an almanac is not appropriate to predict the weather for a particular day.
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Q. How does GNOME relate to TAP (Trajectory Analysis Planner)?
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| A. GNOME is our trajectory model and TAP is our Trajectory Analysis Planner. What's the difference? GNOME runs single trajectories. If GNOME is run thousands of times (using historical winds, tides, and currents), you can use TAP to analyze all those trajectories and calculate statistics from them.
TAP provides the probability of oil movement by looking at those thousands of trajectories. These probabilities allow planners to look at "what if" situations based on the regional oceanography and climate. Decision-makers can use TAP to decide whether to buy more boom or another skimmer, or where to site a lightering area.
TAP cannot be used in the event of a real spill. The situation on a particular day may not be well represented in the statistics, because spills often happen due to unusual circumstances. In the case of a real spill, GNOME can be quickly set up to represent the environmental conditions of the spill. TAP is best used for planning, when it is not known what conditions will be when a spill occurs.
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Q. What's the difference between GNOME and OSSM (On-Scene Spill Model)?
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| A. You might call OSSM (b. June 3, 1979) the father of GNOME. OSSM was the first trajectory model developed at NOAA OR&R, and was written as a command line Fortran code application. GNOME was developed next and was first released March 16, 1999. GNOME is written in C++, which was chosen for two reasons: (1) the addition of a graphical user interface to aid ORR responders and outside users in quickly setting up models, and (2) the support of objects in C++, enabling nifty abilities in Diagnostic Mode.
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Q. Why do the evaporation estimates for GNOME and ADIOS2 differ, and which one should I use?
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| A. GNOME uses a simplistic 3-phase evaporation algorithm, which is appropriate for simple drills and educative comparisons. The oil weathering model, ADIOS2 (Automated Data Inquiry for Oil Spills), has the better evaporation and oil fate estimates compared to GNOME. ADIOS also has an extensive oil library.
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Q. Do we need to obtain either individual or site licenses to use GNOME?
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| A. No. GNOME may be freely used and distributed at no charge.
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Q. Does the Windows version run in all Windows 2000 versions?
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| A. Yes, the latest version of GNOME does (as do all versions from 1.1.4 on).
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Q. Is the Windows version a 16-bit or 32-bit application?
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| A. GNOME is 32-bit (so it runs in Windows 2000/XP, but not in Windows 3.1).
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Q. When was GNOME first released?
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| A. GNOME 1.0 was released on March 16, 1999.
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Q. Does GNOME have any bugs?
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| A. We've corrected a number of bugs in earlier versions of GNOME. Please send reports of any problems or bugs you encounter to the GNOME Wizard (e-mail link at page bottom).
Here is a list of significant bugs in earlier versions of GNOME:
- Earlier Windows versions of GNOME were missing the windage button in the overflight dialog. Fixed 02/18/07.
- Earlier Windows versions of GNOME had a bug affecting users who were importing NetCDF currents or winds. The base time cannot be earlier than January 1, 1970 00:00 GMT, otherwise the Windows function localtime() returns an error and Gnome defaults the base time to January 1, 1970 00:00 GMT. Gnome still loads the file but the times are all off. We added an alert for future versions of Gnome. Fixed 01/06.
- Earlier versions of GNOME allowed users to output MOSS files for GIS systems with the Minimum Regret (Uncertainty) solution turned off; however, the GIS tool requires that Uncertainty be turned on for the run. We added error checking with a message to alert users to turn on the Uncertainty solution and re-run the scenario before outputting GIS files. Fixed 12/05.
- Earlier versions of the Santa Barbara Channel Location File for Windows had a bug in Diagnostic Mode. Opening the map dialog would cause an error due to conflicting messages from the wizard command file. (Mac file did not have this problem). Fixed 08/05.
- Earlier versions of GNOME had a problem with multiple entry dialog boxes in Location Files. These versions would highlight the last entry box, which was confusing to the user. The new version highlights the first entry box. Fixed 06/04 with GNOME 1.2.5.
- Earlier installers didn't work properly for Windows XP. Fixed 05/03 with GNOME 1.2.3.
- GNOME Diagnostic Mode users could not open recent .sav files from previous versions of GNOME. Fixed 10/02 with GNOME 1.2.2.
- The Macintosh version of the Santa Barbara Channel Location File had a bug that made the currents go a little faster than they should. Fixed 10/02.
- Earlier versions of GNOME set the age of spilled pollutant incorrectly. Fixed 11/00.
- Earlier versions of GNOME allowed oil to "jump" over land, and did not properly initialize oil age for oil weathering. Fixed 6/00.
- Versions of GNOME earlier than v. 1.1.1 did not show the wind fields when you went through the Location File a second time.
- GNOME versions 1.1 and later were corrected to read Location File Save (.lfs) files made in GNOME 1.0 for an evaporation-related bug.
- Windows versions of GNOME earlier than v. 1.1 incorrectly displayed years after 1999 in the map window list.
- The GIS output from versions of GNOME earlier than v. 1.1 had a sign error in the output longitudes, causing the data to be read in and placed in the opposite hemisphere.
- Earlier versions of the Prince William Sound Location File for Windows were missing some background flow information (Mac file did not have this problem). Fixed 10/5/99.
- In earlier versions of the Central Long Island Sound Location File, the tidal reference file was not correct. Fixed 6/8/99.
- In earlier versions of the Columbia River Estuary Location File, river scaling was not scaling river transport. Fixed 6/1/99.
- In earlier versions of the Prince William Sound Location File, uncertainty horizontal mixing was too high. Fixed 6/2/99.
- Versions of the Prince William Sound Location File previous to 4/2/99 were missing the detailed help topics for using GNOME.
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| Related Pages on Our Site |
- GNOME The GNOME Development team has released a Location File for New York Harbor, plus an updated GNOME 1.3.0!
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- GNOME References Here are references for some of GNOME's methodologies and uses.
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GNOME: Location Files • top
Questions about Location Files, which are generally used in GNOME's Standard or GIS Mode.
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Q. For what regions will you be creating Location Files?
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| A. You can see our list of upcoming Location Files on our News page. Each Location File will be made available as soon as it's completed. If you don't see a Location File for a region you'd like to model, please send email to the GNOME Wizard.
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Q. Can you make a Location File for my region?
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| A. We're currently preparing Location Files to support the work of the U.S. Coast Guard's Marine Safety Offices (under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990, we're mandated to support the Coast Guard). We do provide trajectory support for drills, including preparing GNOME Location Files, on a "time-available" basis. Requestors go into a queue, with the U.S. Coast Guard at the top of the list, other U.S. Federal and State agencies next, and industry/private companies next. If the Coast Guard is participating in your drill, they can work with their local NOAA Science Support Coordinator to decide whether or not to submit a request for a Location File. From time to time, in support of some of our international projects, we also will create Location Files for regions outside of the U.S.
Another option is for you to learn to use GNOME in Diagnostic Mode to create your own Diagnostic Save Files (you then can use these files to model potential spills in your area). However, be forewarned that creating Location Files and Diagnostic Save Files requires regional physical oceanographic expertise.
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Q. What do I need to make my own Location File or Diagnostic Save File?
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A. Most people make their own Diagnostic Save Files. Unless you plan to market a Location File, you can put all the same physics in a Save File without having to construct the Wizard expert system or the dialog boxes. What you'll need are:
- Vector map of the shoreline
- Hydrodynamic model output for the currents
- Estimate of the eddy mixing
- Wind forecast
You can get the latest input/output data formats and the GNOME format documentation in the GNOME Data Formats document. Example data files are discussed in the documentation and are also available.
MOSS file format information is available in the NOAA HAZMAT Report, Digital Distribution Standard for NOAA Trajectory Analysis Information. See Appendix A of the report for the MOSS standard input file format.
Note: The data files have been compressed (zipped) so that you can download them from the Internet. Follow these steps (in a new window) to uncompact them. Once you've uncompacted the data files, you can open them in a text editor or in GNOME.
If you have questions about the GNOME data formats, you can send them to the GNOME Wizard. Questions are answered weekly (usually on Fridays) as time permits, with spill response and other duties taking precedence.
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| Related Pages on Our Site |
- GNOME The GNOME Development team has released a Location File for New York Harbor, plus an updated GNOME 1.3.0!
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- GNOME References Here are references for some of GNOME's methodologies and uses.
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