Abstract
This paper addresses the vision and early steps of the cooperation between the Center for Coastal Margin Observation and Prediction (CMOP) in Oregon, United States and the emerging Gulf Ecosystems Research Center (GERC) at the American University of Sharjah, UAE. The cooperation focuses on a better understanding and ability to predict the Arabian Gulf as a complex ecosystem, and involves science, technology and training components. An ultimate goal is the development for the Gulf of a “collaboratory” inspired on the concepts of integration of observations, simulations and stakeholder needs developed by CMOP for the Columbia River coastal margin, in the Eastern North Pacific. An early phase of the cooperation addresses the development of a 3D numerical model for the Arabian Gulf water circulation. A very preliminary forecasting system has been developed at CMOP, and its skill will be systematically assessed and improved by GERC and CMOP over the next several years, with the progressive deployment of a targeted observation network. Preliminary products include the visualization of the salinity fields associated with various river plumes. The model used was SELFE (a Semi-implicit Eulerian–Lagrangian Finite-Element model for cross-scale ocean circulation), the same that is being used for the Gulf predictions. Exploratory simulations were made to assess the ability of simple grid refinement strategies and/or use of higher order numerical schemes in improving the representation of the complex dynamics of plumes, filaments (eddies) and upwelling in the continental shelf of the Eastern North Pacific, off the Columbia River. Results suggested the need for automated grid optimization strategies, which are currently in progress.
Access provided by Autonomous University of Puebla. Download to read the full chapter text
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Keywords
References
Sen, G.: Long Term Monitoring of the Coastal Environment of the Arabian Gulf-Implications for Harmful Algal Blooms (Red Tides), Oil Spills and Other Catastrophic Events, A Proposal submitted to the Ministry of Environment & Water (October 23, 2011)
Richlen, M., Mortonb, S., Ebrahim, A., Rajand, A., Anderson, D.: The catastrophic 2008–2009 red tide in the Arabian gulf region, with observations on the identification and phylogeny of the fish-killing dinoflagellate Cochlodinium polykrikoides. Harmful Algae 9, 163–172 (2010)
Chao, S.-Y., Kao, T., Al-Hajri, K.: A Numerical investigation of circulation in the Arabian Gulf. Journal of Geophysical Research 97(C7), 11,219–11,236 (1992)
Kampf, J., Sadrinasab, M.: The circulation of the Persian Gulf: a numerical study. Ocean Science Discussions 2, 129–164 (2005)
Barnes, C.A., Duxbory, A.C., Morse, B.A.: Circulation and selected properties of the Columbia River effluent at sea. In: Alverson, D.L., Pruter, A.T. (eds.) The Columbia River Estuary and Adjacent Ocean Regions: Bioenvironmental Studies, pp. 41–80. University of Washington Press, Seattle (1972)
Grimes, C.B., Kingsford, M.J.: How do riverine plumes of different sizes influence fish larvae: do they enhance recruitment? Marine & Freshwater Research 47, 191–208 (1996)
Hickey, B.M., Banas, N.S.: Oceanography of the U.S. Pacific Northwest coastal ocean and estuaries with application to coastal ecology. Estuaries 26(4), 1010–1031 (2003)
Hickey, B.M., Geier, S., Kachel, N., MacFadyen, A.: A bidirectional river plume: The Columbia in summer. Cont. Shelf Res. 25, 1631–1656 (2005)
Burla, M., Baptista, A.M., Zhang, Y., Frolov, S.: Seasonal and interannual variability of the Columbia River plume: A perspective enabled by multiyear simulation databases. Journal of Geophysical Research 115, C00B16 (2010)
Baptista, A.M., Zhang, Y., Chawla, A., Zulauf, M., Seaton, C., Myers, E., Kindle, J., Wilkin, M., Burla, M., Turner, P.: A cross-scale model for 3D baroclinic circulation in estuary–plume–shelf systems: II. Application to the Columbia River. Continental Shelf Research 25, 935–972 (2005)
Baptista, A., Howe, B., Freire, J., Maier, D., Silva, C.: Scientific Exploration in the Era of Ocean Observatories. Computing in Science & Engineering 10(3), 53–58 (2008)
Zhang, Y., Baptista, A.M.: SELFE: A semi-implicit Eulerian-Lagrangian finite-element model for cross-scale ocean circulation. Ocean Modelling 21, 71–96 (2008)
Zhang, Y., Baptista, A.M., Myers, E.: A cross-scale model for 3D baroclinic circulation in estuary–plume–shelf systems: I. Formulation and skill assessment. Continental Shelf Research 24, 2187–2214 (2004)
SELFE at CMOP, http://www.ccalmr.ogi.edu/CORIE/modeling/selfe/
Surface Water Modeling System (SMS), http://www.aquaveo.com
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Abdel-Jabbar, N., Baptista, A.M., Karna, T., Turner, P., Sen, G. (2013). US Experience Will Advance Gulf Ecosystem Research. In: Bian, F., Xie, Y., Cui, X., Zeng, Y. (eds) Geo-Informatics in Resource Management and Sustainable Ecosystem. GRMSE 2013. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 399. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41908-9_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-41908-9_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-41907-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-41908-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)