Chapter 10
Applications of the Inverse Problem of Pollution
Propagation
Tarmo Soomere
Abstract The quantification of the potential of different offshore domains to serve
as a remote source of danger to the vulnerable areas through pollution propagation is
developed into a technique for the environmental management of open sea regions.
The technique focuses on the identification of areas (of reduced risk) that provide the
lowest level of environmental concerns for offshore activities. An approximate solution to the relevant inverse problem is constructed by means of statistical analysis
of a large number of Lagrangian trajectories of pollution particles. The method contains an eddy-resolving circulation model, a scheme for the tracking of Lagrangian
trajectories, a technique for the calculation of quantities characterizing the potential of different sea areas to supply adverse impacts, and routines to construct the
optimum fairway. The distributions of the probability of current-driven transport of
pollution to vulnerable domains and its propagation time are used for the optimization of the location of potentially dangerous activities. This technique is applied for
the optimization of marine fairways to minimize the risk to high-value areas in two
regions of the Baltic Sea. The environmental advantage is expressed in terms of the
probability of pollution transport to the nearshore and the associated time (particle
age). In the Gulf of Finland the use of the optimum fairway would decrease the
probability of coastal pollution by 40 % or increase the average time it takes for the
pollution to reach the coast from 5.3 to about 9 days.
10.1 Introduction
Modelling efforts addressing the transport of oil spills (or any other adverse impacts such as chemical pollution, or items on the sea surface such as lost containers,
rescue boats, ships without propulsion, etc.) mostly focus on the direct problem of
T. Soomere (B)
Wave Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Cybernetics at Tallinn University of Technology,
Akadeemia tee 21, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia
e-mail: tarmo.soomere@cs.ioc.ee
T. Soomere
Estonian Academy of Sciences, Kohtu 6, 10130 Tallinn, Estonia
T. Soomere, E. Quak (eds.), Preventive Methods for Coastal Protection,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-00440-2_10,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013
319
Applications of the Inverse Problem of Pollution
Propagation
Tarmo Soomere
Abstract The quantification of the potential of different offshore domains to serve
as a remote source of danger to the vulnerable areas through pollution propagation is
developed into a technique for the environmental management of open sea regions.
The technique focuses on the identification of areas (of reduced risk) that provide the
lowest level of environmental concerns for offshore activities. An approximate solution to the relevant inverse problem is constructed by means of statistical analysis
of a large number of Lagrangian trajectories of pollution particles. The method contains an eddy-resolving circulation model, a scheme for the tracking of Lagrangian
trajectories, a technique for the calculation of quantities characterizing the potential of different sea areas to supply adverse impacts, and routines to construct the
optimum fairway. The distributions of the probability of current-driven transport of
pollution to vulnerable domains and its propagation time are used for the optimization of the location of potentially dangerous activities. This technique is applied for
the optimization of marine fairways to minimize the risk to high-value areas in two
regions of the Baltic Sea. The environmental advantage is expressed in terms of the
probability of pollution transport to the nearshore and the associated time (particle
age). In the Gulf of Finland the use of the optimum fairway would decrease the
probability of coastal pollution by 40 % or increase the average time it takes for the
pollution to reach the coast from 5.3 to about 9 days.
10.1 Introduction
Modelling efforts addressing the transport of oil spills (or any other adverse impacts such as chemical pollution, or items on the sea surface such as lost containers,
rescue boats, ships without propulsion, etc.) mostly focus on the direct problem of
T. Soomere (B)
Wave Engineering Laboratory, Institute of Cybernetics at Tallinn University of Technology,
Akadeemia tee 21, 12618 Tallinn, Estonia
e-mail: tarmo.soomere@cs.ioc.ee
T. Soomere
Estonian Academy of Sciences, Kohtu 6, 10130 Tallinn, Estonia
T. Soomere, E. Quak (eds.), Preventive Methods for Coastal Protection,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-00440-2_10,
© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2013
319