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The OSCURS numerical model is a research tool that allows oceanographers and fisheries scientists to perform retrospective analyses of daily ocean surface currents anywhere in a 90-km ocean-wide grid from Baja California to China and from 10ºN to the Bering Strait. The OCSURS model is used to measure the movement of surface currents over time, as well as the movement of what is in or on the water. Ocean surface currents affect organisms suspended in the water column such as fish eggs, small larvae, and plankton, and may affect their survival by determining their location after a few months of drift. Even swimming or migrating fish or mammals may have their destinations significantly offset by currents or annual variability of currents. OSCURS has gained visibility as an accidental debris tracker to analyze accidental but fortuitous at-sea events beyond the scale of normal oceanographic science. Investigation of events such as spills of cargo containers loaded with plastic bathtub toys has been used to fine-tune the OSCURS model. The model was developed at Alaska Fisheries Science Center, Resource Ecology and Fisheries Management Division (REFM) (See the REFM web site for more information).
To run the model, input a location in the North Pacific or drag the white square to the desired location on the map. Enter a start and ending time (1967 - present), choose whether to get a plot or listing of the predicted track, and press the red "GET DATA" button. Year-long runs take several minutes. Longer runs could take significantly more time.
Input to the model is daily values of FNMOC's 6-hourly model sea level pressure.
Examples of OSCURS Model runs (Black tics indicate 30 day intervals):
Click on the following image to view monthly runs and a movie of the OSCURS model at a grid of locations.
