The Poseidon operational tool for the prediction of floating pollutant transport

In this work the development and the application of an operational management tool for the Greek Seas is described. This tool consists of a three-dimensional floating pollutant prediction model coupled with a weather, a hydrodynamic and a wave model in order to track the movements and the spreading of the pollutants and indicate those coastal areas which might be affected. The tool is part of the Poseidon system which has been designed to provide real time data and forecasts for marine environmental conditions in the Greek Seas. In this paper, we present four case studies based on realistic scenarios that show the value of the application for long-term strategic planning and short-term decision making in oil spill accidents.