Modeling

To view SEACOOS model output, please visit the Model Output and Mapping page.

Forecast and Hindcast: Initial implementation

This goal includes retrospective, or hindcast analyses, as well as real-time nowcasts/forecasts. How best to achieve these targets is the focus of the modeling efforts during the initial phases of SEACOOS. Three modeling activities are underway at USF, UNC and UM. Each effort uses a 3-D time-dependent, baroclinic primitive equation formulation, with free-surface and higher order turbulence closure to study the tidal and sub-tidal structure of the currents in the region from the inner shelf (coastline at the 2 meter isobath) to the shelf-break. Model resolution in each case is variable, ranging from approximately 500 meters (in some regions less) to 10 km in the horizontal. In the vertical, 20-30 levels are used with resolution of less than one meter in shallow regions, and in the near-surface and near-bottom boundary layers. Forcing includes tides (prescribed from global tidal models), wind stress and atmospheric pressure (obtained from the National Center for Environmental Prediction), river runoff, and surface heat flux.

SEACOOS modeling groups

• University of South Florida

• University of Miami
  

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Why use different models for different regions?

The three SEACOOS regions (the South Atlantic Bight, the Florida Straits and the West Florida Shelf) are characterized by radically different geometries and forcings. The shelf region from northern Florida to North Carolina is affected by freshwater discharges nearshore, Gulf Stream forcing near the shelf edge, and is strongly wind-driven in the mid-shelf. Additionally, sounds and estuaries in Georgia and South Carolina require detailed geometric fidelity to capture the tidal/sea-level response along this coast. The Florida Straits have a very narrow shelf and a steep continental slope. The flow in the Straits is dominated by the Gulf Stream and its variability, requiring explicit inclusion of the forcing by the offshore currents. The west Florida shelf is broad, and while strongly wind-forced, it also is affected by the variability of the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current. Each of the modeling efforts (UNC, UM and USF) has worked in the past to capture the essential details of each region. The immediate next steps include consideration of how best to link model results of the individual study domains and provide a single integrated description of the circulation in the SEACOOS region.

Visit the Model Output and Mapping page to see SEACOOS model output.