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

在这个项目中，研究者将以目前的建模工作为基础，探索河口河流羽流的影响以及对太平洋西北部海洋/河口连通性的影响。河口系统及其与海洋的连通性影响着重要的生物和生物地球化学过程，如养分交换、生产力、幼虫招募和酸化。剩余环流控制着海洋和河口之间的交换，因此在影响河口内和沿岸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了河口的条件，从而改变了河口交换。本研究的目的是探讨一个研究较少的远程强迫机制：河口羽流的影响及其对海洋/河口连通性的影响。研究者将检验以下假设：1。在风致下流和松弛事件中，河口处存在的河羽加强了仅由下流引起的交换流的减少和/或逆转2。太平洋西北（PNW）河口交换流的年际变化受河流羽流位置和体积3的变化所支配。羽流的存在降低了海洋/河口的连通性，同时增强了沿海的连通性为了解决这些假设，研究者将建立在目前的建模工作的基础上，以了解萨利希海PNW河口（华盛顿内陆和加拿大水域，包括普吉特海湾和乔治亚海峡）、格雷斯港、威拉帕湾、蒂拉穆克湾和库斯湾的海洋-河口相互作用。这项研究将利用已经开发的区域模拟系统和广泛的观测数据集。进一步的模型开发将纳入来自水文模型和嵌套子网格的额外径流源，以解决较小的河口。模型运行超过十年，无论有没有哥伦比亚河的流入，都将用于解决上述假设。尽管对了解PNW河口有特别的兴趣，但这项工作更广泛地涉及到更好地了解沿上升流海岸的河口以及受近海河流羽流影响的河口。更广泛的影响包括通过建立的外展机制为公众和学生提供教育机会。研究者将在现有可视化工具的基础上开发互动式博物馆展览和课堂工具，使用模型输出可视化萨利希海内的循环和水属性，强调与海洋的连通性。该展览将使用触摸屏界面运行一个具有定向学习目标的互动程序，并包含一个探索模式。海洋科学卓越教育中心（COSEE）和海洋调查项目中心（OIP）已提出担任主办机构。COSEE将帮助建立与其他推广项目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地点，并为期望与展品互动的广大观众提供适当的学习目标指导。伊办还将提供关于学习目标的指导，并通过提供船只外展计划和教师培训活动作为测试场所，帮助评估这些工具。该项目由美国国家科学基金会海洋科学博士后研究奖学金（OCE PRF）计划支持，旨在支持早期职业科学家的新颖研究，并增加美国海洋科学工作人员和研究界的多样性。在海洋学研究基金的支持下，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事业中立足，并扩大代表性不足的群体参与海洋科学。

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.