TY - JOUR
T1 - A cross-scale model for 3D baroclinic circulation in estuary-plume-shelf systems
T2 - II. Application to the Columbia River
AU - Baptista, António M.
AU - Zhang, Yinglong
AU - Chawla, Arun
AU - Zulauf, Mike
AU - Seaton, Charles
AU - Myers, Edward P.
AU - Kindle, John
AU - Wilkin, Michael
AU - Burla, Michela
AU - Turner, Paul J.
N1 - Funding Information:
The development and testing of the CORIE modeling system has greatly benefited from the contributions of many colleagues. Drs. Todd Leen, David Maier, Claudio Silva, Wu-chi Feng, Wu-chang Feng, and Juliana Freire have brought the formal rigor of computer science to several aspects of CORIE, from automated quality control, to flow and visualization of information, and to product generation. Within the CORIE team, we are particularly grateful to Cole McCandlish, Guangzhi Liu, and Phil Pearson, for the development of several of the standard CORIE products, and to Jon Graves, for support in data collection. We are also grateful to Dr. Edmundo Casillas, of NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center, for providing a driving application and partially facilitating the funded development of CORIE. The CORIE modeling system has been developed and maintained through a combination of projects funded by NOAA and the Bonneville Power Administration (NA17FE1486, NA17FE1026, NA87FE0405), the US Fish and Wildlife Service (133101J104), the Office of Naval Research (N00014-00-1-0301, N00014-99-1-0051), and the National Science Foundation (ACI-0121475). Appreciation is extended to Sergio deRada, Charley Barron, and Lucy Smedstad for help in providing the global NCOM fields. Support for one of the authors (Kindle) was provided through the Naval Research Laboratory 6.1 project “Coupled Physical and Bio-optical modeling in the Coastal Zone”, under program element 61153N sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Dr. Todd Sanders provided the SAR image in Fig. 15 a under NOAA NESDIS Grant NA16EC2450. Dr. Joel Wesson of Naval Research Laboratory provided the airborne survey data in Fig. 21 b.
PY - 2005/5
Y1 - 2005/5
N2 - This article is the second of a two-part paper on ELCIRC, an Eulerian-Lagrangian finite difference/finite volume model designed to simulate 3D baroclinic circulation across river-to-ocean scales. In part one (Zhang et al., 2004), we described the formulation of ELCIRC and assessed its baseline numerical skill. Here, we describe the application of ELCIRC within CORIE, a coastal margin observatory for the Columbia River estuary and plume. We first introduce the CORIE modeling system and its multiple modes of simulation, external forcings, observational controls, and automated products. We then focus on the evaluation of highly resolved, year-long ELCIRC simulations, using two variables (water level and salinity) to illustrate simulation quality and sensitivity to modeling choices. We show that, process-wise, simulations capture well important aspects of the response of estuarine and plume circulation to ocean, river, and atmospheric forcings. Quantitatively, water levels are robustly represented, while salinity intrusion and plume dynamics remain challenging. Our analysis highlights the benefits of conducting model evaluations over large time windows (months to years), to avoid significant localized biases. The robustness and computational efficiency of ELCIRC has proved invaluable in identifying and reducing non-algorithmic sources of errors, including parameterization (e.g., turbulence closure and stresses at the air-water interface) and external forcings (e.g., ocean conditions and atmospheric forcings).
AB - This article is the second of a two-part paper on ELCIRC, an Eulerian-Lagrangian finite difference/finite volume model designed to simulate 3D baroclinic circulation across river-to-ocean scales. In part one (Zhang et al., 2004), we described the formulation of ELCIRC and assessed its baseline numerical skill. Here, we describe the application of ELCIRC within CORIE, a coastal margin observatory for the Columbia River estuary and plume. We first introduce the CORIE modeling system and its multiple modes of simulation, external forcings, observational controls, and automated products. We then focus on the evaluation of highly resolved, year-long ELCIRC simulations, using two variables (water level and salinity) to illustrate simulation quality and sensitivity to modeling choices. We show that, process-wise, simulations capture well important aspects of the response of estuarine and plume circulation to ocean, river, and atmospheric forcings. Quantitatively, water levels are robustly represented, while salinity intrusion and plume dynamics remain challenging. Our analysis highlights the benefits of conducting model evaluations over large time windows (months to years), to avoid significant localized biases. The robustness and computational efficiency of ELCIRC has proved invaluable in identifying and reducing non-algorithmic sources of errors, including parameterization (e.g., turbulence closure and stresses at the air-water interface) and external forcings (e.g., ocean conditions and atmospheric forcings).
KW - Eulerian-Lagrangian methods
KW - Finite differences
KW - Finite volumes
KW - Mathematical modeling
KW - Ocean, coastal, and estuarine circulation
KW - Semi-implicit methods
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=20144376461&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=20144376461&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.csr.2004.12.003
DO - 10.1016/j.csr.2004.12.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:20144376461
SN - 0278-4343
VL - 25
SP - 935
EP - 972
JO - Continental Shelf Research
JF - Continental Shelf Research
IS - 7-8 SPEC. ISS.
ER -