Inner-shelf circulation and mechanisms of across-shelf transport of water masses were examined using seven years of observations collected by the Partnership for Interdisciplinary Studies of Coastal Oceans (PISCO) program, a long-term monitoring effort along the central Oregon coast. Since 1998, moored velocity and hydrographic measurements have been obtained during the...
Velocity measurements from 17 deployments of moored acoustic Doppler current
profilers obtained during four summer upwelling seasons are used to describe the crossshelf
divergence of Ekman transport in the inner shelf off Oregon. For each deployment
the measured surface and bottom cross-shelf transports were compared with estimates
of the theoretical...
Realistic hindcast of the Columbia River estuarine-plume-shelf circulation in summer
2004 using the Regional Ocean Modeling System nested within the Navy Coastal Ocean
Model (NCOM) is quantitatively evaluated with an extensive set of observations. The
model has about equal skill at tidal and subtidal properties. Tidal circulation and water
properties...
The northern California Current System is impacted by two primary freshwater
sources: the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Columbia River. The Columbia is frequently
bidirectional in summer, with branches both north and south of the river mouth
simultaneously. We describe the interaction of these two warm Columbia plumes...
Numerical simulations of the Hudson River estuary using a terrain-following, three-dimensional
model (Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)) are compared with an
extensive set of time series and spatially resolved measurements over a 43 day period with
large variations in tidal forcing and river discharge. The model is particularly effective at...
Measurements of inherent optical properties (IOP) were conducted over bottoms with different substrates by use
of a sampling package mounted on and operated by a SCUBA diver. It was found that in areas of low ambient
currents the distribution of IOP varies with bottom type in (1) its value relative...
River Influences on Shelf Ecosystems (RISE) is the first comprehensive
interdisciplinary study of the rates and dynamics governing the mixing of river and coastal
waters in an eastern boundary current system, as well as the effects of the resultant plume
on phytoplankton standing stocks, growth and grazing rates, and community...
The initial composition of a river plume depends on the cumulative turbulent
entrainment within the estuary and how this dilutes the supplied freshwater. Here we
examine the relative roles of turbulence and freshwater input using observations from the
Columbia River estuary and plume during two periods with contrasting river flow....
Austral winter oceanographic measurements from the
northwest Australian continental shelf reveal salty water
forming evaporatively inshore, moving across the wide
shelf near the bottom and into the adjacent open ocean when
the shelf edge alongshore flow is equatorward. The salt
tongue is absent during more normal conditions, when the
poleward...
Twelve days of microstructure measurements at the equator (140°W) in November 1984 showed a
surprisingly strong effect of both daily cycle of solar heating and wind on mixing in the upper ocean.
Because of limited variations in atmospheric forcing and currents during the experiment, processes in the
daily mixing cycle...
Austral winter oceanographic measurements from the northwest Australian continental shelf reveal salty water forming evaporatively inshore, moving across the wide shelf near the bottom and into the adjacent open ocean when the shelf edge alongshore flow is equatorward. The salt tongue is absent during more normal conditions, when the poleward...
Current and hydrographic observations from the Coastal Mixing and Optics experiment moored array, deployed from August 1996 through June 1997, are used to describe the velocity variability and evaluate the dynamics of circulation over the New England shelf on timescales ranging from a few days to several months. Subtidal (days...
Varied observations over Oregon’s continental shelf illustrate the
beauty and complexity of geophysical flows in coastal waters. Rapid, creative, and
sometimes fortuitous sampling from ships and moorings has allowed detailed looks
at boundary layer processes, internal waves (some extremely nonlinear), and coastal
currents, including how they interact. These processes drive...
This dissertation investigates the dynamics of the tidally modulated outflow from the Columbia River mouth using high resolution measurements of velocity, density and turbulent microstructure. At high tide, flow through the river mouth reverses from flood (onshore) to ebb (offshore). During ebb, buoyant fluid issues from the river mouth and...
This report summarizes the outcomes of a March 22-25, 2010, workshop in Seattle, Washington, on the environmental effects of tidal energy development. The workshop focused on building capabilities to evaluate the environmental effects of tidal energy from turbines placed in the water column throughout the United States. However, it did...