The DROPPS consortium is investigating the following:
• The breakup of oil patches into droplets under physical conditions such as sub-surface plumes, breaking waves, and turbulent flows
• The complex processes that breakup oil droplets when dispersant and bacteria are present
• Measuring the transport of oil in turbulent flows
• Interaction of oil with hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria at oil-water interfaces
• Interaction of suspended oil droplets with marine phytoplankton and zooplankton species
• All results will be combined into a meso-scale model used to predict the transport and fate of oil spills