How Do I ...
Tools:
Quick Start:
Just click on "Run Model"
without changing anything else
Just click on "Run Model"
without changing anything else
OSCURS has gained visibility as a debris tracker to analyze accidental at-sea
events beyond the scale of normal oceanographic science. Investigation of
events such as spills of cargo containers loaded with athletic shoes or plastic
bathtub toys has been used to fine-tune the OSCURS model.
Because of the additional surface area exposed to the wind above the water, objects
floating on the water may travel faster than the current, and at a different angle
to the wind. Tuning of the model has been accomplished by adjusting the current speed
coefficient and/or angle of deflection to the right of the wind, and comparing with
actual debris trajectories.
Wind current speed coefficient ('wcsc')
(A value of 1.2 means that the object travels 20% faster than the current)
Wind angle deviation ('wad')
Ocean surface currents in the Northern Hemisphere flow at an angle (predicted by Ekman
theory) to the right of the wind direction. Trajectories of objects floating on the
water tend to move at slight angles to the surface current. This effect can be modeled
in the OSCURS model with the wind angle deviation parameter, defined as the deviation that
an object's trajectory makes from the angle the surface current trajectory makes with the wind.
Normally this parameter can be set to zero(default). It is typically between -2 and +2 degrees, but
values of up to -3 degrees have been found to work for larger bathtub toys.
degrees
Geostrophic current factor ('gsf')
This parameter can be used to amplify the effect of the geostrophic current or set to zero to
eliminate it and look at pure wind drift (default = 1.0).
events beyond the scale of normal oceanographic science. Investigation of
events such as spills of cargo containers loaded with athletic shoes or plastic
bathtub toys has been used to fine-tune the OSCURS model.
Because of the additional surface area exposed to the wind above the water, objects
floating on the water may travel faster than the current, and at a different angle
to the wind. Tuning of the model has been accomplished by adjusting the current speed
coefficient and/or angle of deflection to the right of the wind, and comparing with
actual debris trajectories.
Wind current speed coefficient ('wcsc')
(A value of 1.2 means that the object travels 20% faster than the current)
| water | 1.0 | (default) |
| athletic shoes | 1.2 | |
| hockey gloves | 1.4 | |
| plastic bathtub toys | 1.6 | |
| large bottles | 2.0 |
Wind angle deviation ('wad')
Ocean surface currents in the Northern Hemisphere flow at an angle (predicted by Ekman
theory) to the right of the wind direction. Trajectories of objects floating on the
water tend to move at slight angles to the surface current. This effect can be modeled
in the OSCURS model with the wind angle deviation parameter, defined as the deviation that
an object's trajectory makes from the angle the surface current trajectory makes with the wind.
Normally this parameter can be set to zero(default). It is typically between -2 and +2 degrees, but
values of up to -3 degrees have been found to work for larger bathtub toys.
degrees
Geostrophic current factor ('gsf')
This parameter can be used to amplify the effect of the geostrophic current or set to zero to
eliminate it and look at pure wind drift (default = 1.0).