Chen, C1, H. Liu1, R. C. Beardsley2,
G. Cowles1, J. Pringle3,
and Brian Rothschild1
1School for Marine Science and Technology, University of
Massachusetts-Dartmouth, New Bedford, MA 02744
2Department of Physical Oceanography, Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543
3Center for the Earth, Planetary and Geophysics Research, University
of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824
An operational model forecasting and hindcasting system for the Gulf
of Maine (GOM)/Georges Bank (GB) region is being developed using the
finite-volume coastal ocean model FVCOM. The model domain is
configured with non-overlapping unstructured triangular grid cells
with horizontal resolution of 1 km on the northern flank of GB,
Browns Bank, and inner-shelf coastal regions, and 3-10 km in the
interior of GOM and the regions close to the open boundary. FVCOM
is driven using real-time surface wind stress and heat flux fields
produced using a GOM/GB meso-scale meteorological model (MM5). The
MM5-FVCOM model system is being validated by application to simulate
and assimilate the 1995 and 1999 seasonal variations of
stratification and subtidal circulation in the GOM/GB. Initial
results show that the MM5-FVCOM model system has captured the basic
dynamics controlling the large-scale physics in the GOM/GB. Good
agreement between model-predicted and observed currents was found on
the southern flank of GB, but not in the Northeast Channel (NEC).
This suggests that the subtidal circulation on GB is mainly
controlled by local forcing, while the currents in the eastern
GOM/GB are strongly influenced by water input from the Scotian
Shelf. Nudging assimilation is used to merge the model-computed and
observed currents in the NEC. This approach produces a more
realistic pattern of subtidal currents and on-bank transport on the
northeastern flank of GB.
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