Modelling origin and transport fate of waste materials on the south-eastern Adriatic coast (Croatia)

Abstract. The south-eastern parts of the Adriatic Sea coastline were severely polluted by large amounts of accumulated waste material in the second half of November 2010. The waste, reported by major news agencies, accumulated dominantly during 21 November 2010 by favourable wind – ocean current transport system. In the study we analysed meteorological and oceanographic conditions that lead to the waste deposition using available in situ measurements, remote sensing data as well numerical models of the ocean and the atmosphere. The measured data reveal that an intensive rainfall event from 7 till 10 November 2010, over the parts of Montenegro and Albania, was followed by a substantial increase of the river water levels indicating flash floods that possibly splashed the waste material into a river and after to the Adriatic Sea. In order to test our hypothesis we set a number of numerical drifter experiments with trajectories initiated off the coast of Albania during the intensive rainfall events following their faith in space and time. One of the numerical drifter trajectory experiment resulted with drifters reached right position (south-eastern Adriatic coast) and time (exactly by the time the waste was observed) when initiated on 00:00 and 12:00 UTC of 10 November 2010 during the mentioned flash flood event.