Coastal oil pollution prediction by a tanker using cellular automata

This paper describes a new simulation technique for diffusion phenomena over the sea surface using cellular automata, which is capable of making prediction of oil dispersion from tankers come into collision or stranded on rocks. Cellular automata is applied to solve a diffusion equation, in which the simulation results are compared with the analytical solution, and the applicability is shown in predicting the oil dispersion in the accident of a tanker occurred in Japan Sea in January, 1997. The simulation results by cellular automata show good agreement with analytical solution of diffusion equation and that the prediction of oil dispersion in Japan Sea can be made in a short time by a personal computer with high accuracy.