OCE-PRF: Interannual variability in estuarine exchange due to oceanic forcing conditions and offshore river plumes

OCE-PRF：海洋强迫条件和近海河流羽流导致的河口交换的年际变化

• 批准号: 1226406
• 负责人: Sarah Giddings
• 金额: $ 17万
• 依托单位: Giddings Sarah N
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-01-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1226406&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: OCE; PRF; Interannual; variability; estuarine

In this project, the investigator will build upon current modeling efforts to explore the influence of river plumes at the estuary mouth and implications for ocean/estuary connectivity in the Pacific Northwest.Estuarine systems and their connectivity to the ocean influence important biological and biogeochemical processes such as nutrient exchange, productivity, larval recruitment, and acidification. Residual circulation governs the exchange between the ocean and the estuary and thus plays a large role in influencing these important processes within estuaries and along the coast. Many remote forcing mechanisms alter conditions at the estuary mouth and thus alter estuarine exchange. The purpose of this study is to investigate a less studied remote forcing mechanism: the influence of a plume at the estuary mouth and the implications for ocean/estuary connectivity. The investigator will test the following hypotheses: 1. The presence of a river plume at the estuary mouth during wind-driven downwelling and relaxation events strengthens the decrease and/or reversal of exchange flow due to downwelling alone 2. Interannual variability in estuarine exchange flow in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) are governed by variations in river plume location and volume 3. Plume presence decreases ocean/estuarine connectivity while enhancing along-coast connectivity To address these hypotheses, the investigator will build upon current modeling efforts to understand ocean-estuary interactions in the PNW estuaries of the Salish Sea (the inland Washington and Canadian waters including Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia), Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, Tillamook Bay and Coos Bay. The research will take advantage of an already developed regional modeling system and extensive observational datasets. Further model development will incorporate additional runoff sources from a hydrologic model and nested sub-grids to resolve smaller estuaries. Model runs over a decade both with and without the Columbia River inflow will be used to address the above hypotheses. Although there is a particular interest in understanding PNW estuaries, this work relates more broadly to better understanding of estuaries along upwelling coasts as well as estuaries influenced by offshore river plumes. The broader impacts include educational opportunities for the public and students through established outreach mechanisms. The investigator will build upon existing visualization tools to develop an interactive museum exhibit and classroom tool that uses the model output to visualize circulation and water properties within the Salish Sea emphasizing the connectivity with the ocean. The exhibit will use a touchscreen interface to run an interactive program with directed learning objectives and contain an exploratory mode. Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) and Ocean Inquiry Project (OIP) have offered to act as host organizations. COSEE will help establish connections with other outreach programs and informal science learning centers to determine the best location for testing initial exhibits and visualization tools as well as provide guidance on setting learning objectives appropriate for the broad audience expected to interact with the exhibit. OIP will also provide guidance on learning objectives and help evaluate the tools by providing access to their boat-based outreach program and in teacher training activities as test venues. This project is supported under the NSF Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (OCE PRF) program, with goals to support novel research by early career scientists and increase the diversity of the U.S. ocean sciences workforce and research community. With OCE-PRF support, this project will enable a promising early career researcher to establish themselves in an independent research career related to ocean sciences and broaden participation of under-represented groups in the ocean sciences.

在该项目中，研究人员将基于当前的建模努力，以探索河口对河口的河口的影响，以及对西北太平洋地区的海洋/河口连通性的影响。StuarineSystems及其与海洋的连通性影响着重要的生物学和生物地质学过程，例如作为养分交换，生产力，幼虫募集和酸化。残留循环控制着海洋与河口之间的交流，因此在影响河口内部和沿海的这些重要过程中起着重要作用。许多远程强迫机制会改变河口口处的条件，从而改变河口交换。这项研究的目的是研究一种研究较少的远程强迫机制：羽流在河口的口中的影响以及对海洋/河口连通性的影响。研究者将检验以下假设：1。在风向下降和放松事件期间，河口河口存在河羽，可以增强仅由于下降而导致的交换流量的下降和/或逆转交换流量2。在太平洋西北（PNW）中，受河羽位置的变化和第3卷的差异。在萨利什海的PNW河口（内陆华盛顿内陆和加拿大水域，包括普吉特海峡和佐治亚州海峡），格雷斯港，威拉帕湾，蒂拉莫克湾和库斯湾的相互作用。该研究将利用已经开发的区域建模系统和广泛的观察数据集。进一步的模型开发将结合来自水文模型和嵌套子网格的其他径流源，以解决较小的河口。在有或没有哥伦比亚河流流入的情况下，模型将在十年中运行十年，以解决上述假设。尽管对理解PNW河口有特别的兴趣，但这项工作更广泛地与对上升沿岸沿岸的河口以及受海上河羽流影响的河口的了解更为广泛。更广泛的影响包括通过既定的外展机制为公众和学生提供的教育机会。研究人员将基于现有的可视化工具来开发交互式博物馆展览和课堂工具，该工具使用模型输出来可视化萨利什海中的循环和水性能，以强调与海洋的连通性。展览将使用触摸屏接口来运行具有定向学习目标的交互式程序，并包含探索模式。海洋科学教育中心卓越（COSEE）和海洋探究项目（OIP）已提出担任接待组织。 Cosee将帮助与其他外展计划和非正式科学学习中心建立联系，以确定测试初始展览和可视化工具的最佳位置，并为设定适合与展览相互作用的广泛受众的学习目标提供指导。 OIP还将提供有关学习目标的指导，并通过提供基于船的外展计划和教师培训活动作为测试场所来帮助评估工具。 该项目得到了NSF海洋科学博士后研究奖学金（OCE PRF）计划的支持，其目标是支持早期职业科学家的新研究，并增加了美国海洋科学工作人员和研究社区的多样性。在OCE-PRF的支持下，该项目将使有前途的早期职业研究人员能够在与海洋科学有关的独立研究职业中建立自己，并扩大了代表性不足的群体在海洋科学中的参与。