EGU25-17018, updated on 15 Mar 2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-17018
EGU General Assembly 2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Assessing Oil Spill Hazard Along the Aegean Sea Coastline
Asimakis-Nestoras Karagiannis1, Antonio Olita2, Dimitra Kitsiou1, and Theodoros Nitis1
Asimakis-Nestoras Karagiannis et al.
  • 1Laboratory of Environmental Quality and Geospatial Applications, Department of Marine Sciences, School of the Environment, University of Aegean, University Hill, 81100, Mytilene, Greece
  • 2Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, National Research Council (CNR-ISAC), Cagliari Section, Italy

Oil spills represent a significant environmental hazard, particularly in regions with high maritime activity and vulnerable coastlines. 

This study aims to assess oil spill hazard along the Aegean Sea’s coastline by simulating continuous oil spill scenarios over 1 year (2021) using the GNOME model developed by NOAA. The simulation focused on the Aegean's area of highest tanker vessel density, extrapolated from vessel traffic data. We located a main “corridor” that was supposedly the area where an accident and/or a systematic release of oil at sea is more likely to happen. Within the extent of this area, we drew a grid with 69 points of continuous release, spaced each other 5 – 10 km away each releasing 80 particles per hour and 1 ton of oil daily.

The oil spill model was forced with ERA5 (ECMWF Reanalysis) to address atmospheric parameters, with a spatial resolution of 31 km^2 and a temporal one of 1 hour. Surface currents were provided by MFS ocean model with a spatial resolution of 4 km^2 and a temporal of 1 hour (provided by Copernicus portal) t. Daily remotely sensed L4 SST data from Copernicus were also used to account for evaporation. Waves were parameterized from wind data, as they are required for emulsification and dispersion processes.

Results showed that all year round most particles tend to be beached between the 3rd and 10th day since release, peaking at day 5. The same for mass, and with no evident seasonality. Seasonal variations were observed regarding few particles that were afloat for longer times, with particles during the summer showing a lower maximum age at beaching, peaking at day 20. The latter could be attributed to increased wind speeds typical of the Aegean Sea summer period, which can prolong particle transport. 

The total density analysis of the whole simulation highlighted that the central Aegean region exhibited the highest pollution values, while lower values were observed in the northern Aegean with some southern islands also displaying areas of higher density.

How to cite: Karagiannis, A.-N., Olita, A., Kitsiou, D., and Nitis, T.: Assessing Oil Spill Hazard Along the Aegean Sea Coastline, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-17018, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-17018, 2025.