GNOME Suite for Oil Spill Modeling

A large vessel leaks oil into ocean waters.
The disabled vessel, the T/B DBL 152, discharges oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 2005. Image credit: ENTRIX, Inc.

The GNOME (General NOAA Operational Modeling Environment) suite is a set of modeling tools for predicting the fate and transport of pollutants—such as oil—spilled in water. These modeling tools are used for NOAA’s spill response support and are also publicly available for use by the broader academic, response, and oil spill planning communities.

The GNOME suite has a number of components available to users, depending on their application:

  • WebGNOME, a Web-based application that provides a user-friendly interface for setting up, running, and visualizing spill scenarios.
  • PyGNOME, the computational “engine” of GNOME; a stand-alone Python package that includes a command line scripting environment.
  • ADIOS Oil Database, a Web-based interface for accessing physical and chemical information on a wide variety of petroleum products. Oil records can be downloaded and used in spill modeling scenarios.
  • GOODS, a Web-based application to help users access base maps, ocean currents, and winds needed as inputs to spill modeling scenarios.
  • TAP, a contingency planning tool that investigates the probabilities that spilled oil will move and spread in particular ways within a particular area, such as a large bay or inlet.
GNOME Suite: Related Software

Several other stand-alone programs can be used with the GNOME suite for spill planning or response:

  • CAFE Database, a program that estimates the environmental impacts from oil or chemical spills into an aquatic environment.
  • NUCOS, a simple desktop unit converter that includes units unique to oil spill response.
Legacy Desktop Versions

Previous core components of the GNOME suite continue to be maintained. However, active development is no longer occurring on these legacy programs.

  • GNOME—the desktop trajectory modeling tool—that can be used with downloadable Location Files (pre-packaged information about tides and currents for a particular place).
  • ADIOS®, NOAA's stand-alone oil weathering model.
  • ROC, a tool that assesses the general performance of oil spill response systems, such as the mechanical recovery (skimming) of oil from the water, the application of dispersant, and the burning of spilled oil.

Questions: Contact us with questions, comments, or suggestions about GNOME.

Last updated Tuesday, January 3, 2023 2:57pm PST