Modeling, Assimilation, and Analysis of the Shelf - Interior Ocean Exchange off Oregon

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The project addresses the circulation and dynamics processes that occur between the continental shelf and adjacent ocean off the Oregon coast, using a suite of numerical modeling approaches. Process oriented modeling, data analyses, and variational data assimilation will be used to investigate the exchanges across the coastal transition zone. Use will be made of extensive, existing data sets to constrain the numerical modeling, which in turn will be used to investigate the transports and exchanges between the coastal and open ocean. Various combinations of observational data will be used in the assimilation experiments to assess their utility. The project has the potential to achieve transformative results in our understanding of how data can be used to improve numerical modeling in the coastal zone.The project addresses fundamental questions regarding the circulation patterns of the shelf, slope, and adjacent open ocean. It therefore has indirect broader impacts on other fields of oceanography including the dynamics relevant to the hypoxia zone off the Oregon coast. The project is also a natural extension of previous observational and modeling work for the region. The series of modeling and assimilation experiments are highly relevant to the ongoing development and eventual implementation of the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI).