Software

SIMAP™

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Integrated Oil Spill Impact Model System
SIMAP provides detailed predictions of the three-dimensional trajectory, fate, biological effects, and other impacts of spilled oil and fuels.

Applications for SIMAP
  • Impact Assessment
  • Hindcast/forecast of spill response
  • Natural resource damage assessment
  • Contingency planning - including worst-case scenario
  • Ecological Risk Assessment
  • Cost-benefit analysis
  • Drills and education
Features
  • Contains RPS ASA’s own GIS or can be used in other GIS software such as ArcView®
  • Easily interpreted visual displays of surface distribution and subsurface concentrations of spilled oil and its components over time
  • Impacts on fish, shellfish, wildlife, and for series of habitats (environments) affected by the spill.
  • Location-specifi c environmental/ biological data applied to any fresh or salt aquatic environment in the world
  • 3D Viewer capabilities
  • Can utilize a variety of hydrodynamic file formats




oil spill remediation




SIMAP Highlights

  • Physical Fates Model
  • Biological Exposure and Effects Model
  • Stochastic Model
  • Interactive GIS
  • Environmental, Oil & Biological Databases
SIMAP interface
Model Modules
Physical Fates Model
    SIMAP simulates the following processes:
  • Initial plume dynamics
  • Slick spreading, transport, and entrainment of floating oil
  • Evaporation and volatilization (to atmosphere)
  • Transport and dispersion of entrained oil and dissolved aromatics in the water column
  • Dissolution and adsorption of entrained oil and dissolved aromatics to suspended sediments
  • Sedimentation and resuspension
  • Natural degradation
  • Shoreline entrainment
  • Boom and dispersant effectiveness

SIMAP figure
water bird
Biological Exposure and Effects Model
    The biological exposure model evaluates:
  • Area or water volume exposed above a selected threshold(i.e. a toxicological endpoint in US EPA ecological risk assessment terminology)
  • Dose (sum of concentration times time of exposure) aquatic biota are exposed to and the expected percent mortality from acute toxic effects
  • Direct-contact impacts to birds, mammals, and other wildlife







Stochastic Model
    The stochastic model predicts:
  • Range of expected contamination and the probability of exceeding thresholds of concern from an oil discharge
  • Frequency distribution of model results, for which statistics are calculated and plotted
Environmental, Chemical and Biological Databases
  • Environmental database - includes coastline, bathymetry, shoreline type, ecological habitat type, and temporally varying ice coverage, temperature, and salinity
  • Oil database - includes physical-chemical properties; allows the user to add new oils, duplicate oils already in the database and make changes to oil data while preserving the original values
  • Biological databases - can be set up for any area of the world. For the US, RPS ASA has developed a biological database containing seasonal or monthly mean abundance by species and habitat type for each biogeographic region of the US

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