Modeling characteristic size distribution parameters of oil droplets generated by breaking waves
Natural dispersion of oil is investigated experimentally in a wave flume. Three different nominal oil thicknesses, and three wave heights, are used, with each experiment repeated several times. Droplets are recorded at high frequency, using the SilCam, a telecentric camera system designed to measure oil droplet size distributions, and to discriminate between droplets and bubbles. Size distributions are recorded at two different sampling locations, over a time of about 80 s following the wave breaking. The results indicate that the volume-based median droplet size, d<sub>50</sub><sup>v</sup>, has a clear dependence on oil slick thickness. We discuss implications for oil spill modeling, compare to existing droplet size models, and apply a new non-dimensional empirical function to model the early (transient) size distribution following a breaking wave, for use in operational oil spill modeling.
Authors
- Emlyn J. Davies (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5163-7533)
- Tor Nordam (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3870-6565)
- Arsalan Mostaani
- Thor-Arne Pettersen
- Jørgen Skancke
- Anusha L. Dissanayake (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7126-4650)
- Raymond Nepstad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7232-3237)
- Frode Leirvik
- Øyvind Breivik
Institutions
- Norwegian Meteorological Institute (NO)
- SINTEF (NO)
- CMCC Foundation - Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change (IT)
- NTNU Samfunnsforskning (NO)
- University of Bergen (NO)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Marine Pollution Bulletin
- Published
- 2026-02-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2026.119420
- Primary Topic
- Oil Spill Detection and Mitigation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00