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

在这个项目中，研究人员将建立在目前的建模工作，以探讨河口的河流羽流的影响和影响的海洋/河口连接在太平洋西北部。河口系统和它们的连接到海洋影响重要的生物和海洋地球化学过程，如营养交换，生产力，幼虫招聘，和酸化。剩余环流控制着海洋和河口之间的交换，因此在影响河口和沿着的这些重要过程中起着很大的作用。许多远程强迫机制改变河口条件，从而改变河口交换。本研究的目的是调查一个研究较少的远程强迫机制：在河口的羽流的影响和海洋/河口连接的影响。研究者将检验以下假设：1.在河口的风驱动的下降流和松弛事件的河流羽流的存在下，加强了减少和/或逆转的交换流由于下降流单独2。在太平洋西北部（PNW）河口交换流量的年际变化是由河流羽流的位置和体积3的变化。为了解决这些假设，研究人员将建立在目前的建模工作，以了解海洋河口的PNW河口的萨利希海（内陆华盛顿和加拿大沃茨，包括普吉特湾和格鲁吉亚海峡），格雷港，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测数据集。进一步的模型开发将纳入水文模型和嵌套子网格的额外径流源，以解决较小的河口。将使用模型在有和没有哥伦比亚河流入的情况下运行10年，以解决上述假设。虽然有一个特别的兴趣，了解PNW河口，这项工作涉及更广泛地更好地了解河口沿着涌升海岸以及河口影响近海河流羽流。更广泛的影响包括通过既定的外联机制为公众和学生提供教育机会。研究人员将利用现有的可视化工具开发一个互动的博物馆展览和课堂工具，使用模型输出来可视化萨利希海内的循环和水特性，强调与海洋的连通性。该展览将使用触摸屏界面来运行具有定向学习目标的交互式程序，并包含探索模式。海洋科学教育卓越中心（COSEE）和海洋调查项目（OIP）已表示愿意担任主办组织。COSEE将帮助建立与其他推广计划和非正式科学学习中心的联系，以确定测试初始展品和可视化工具的最佳位置，并为预期与展览互动的广大观众提供适当的学习目标。伊办还将提供关于学习目标的指导，并通过提供以船为基础的外联方案和作为测试场地的教师培训活动，帮助评估这些工具。 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，并增加美国海洋科学劳动力和研究社区的多样性。在海洋环境组织-太平洋研究基金的支持下，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生涯中立足，并扩大代表性不足的群体对海洋科学的参与。

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.