Variability of circulation and hydrodynamic connectivity over the eastern Canadian shelf

在过去的50年里，加拿大东部大陆架的物理和生物条件发生了重大变化。更好地了解环流、水文学和相关的可变性，将对有效和可持续地管理加拿大大西洋的海洋资源非常有用。该区域的环流和水文受风、潮汐、地表热量和淡水通量以及拉布拉多洋流和墨西哥湾流两个大尺度洋流系统相互作用的强烈影响。在过去三十年里，根据各种海洋观测和数值模式结果，在确定该区域的一般平均环流方面取得了重大进展。然而，在量化该区域环流和水动力连通性的季节和年际变化方面取得的进展较少。这项提议的长期目标是审查环流的季节和年际变化，并评估物理过程对加拿大东部大陆架海洋生态系统动态的影响。该提案的短期目标是：(1)利用三维海洋环流模式研究过去50年的变化；(2)计算保留/扩散和水动力连通性；(3)为研究区域开发一个耦合的生物物理数值模式。

Physical and biological conditions in the eastern Canadian shelf have undertaken significant changes in the last 50 years. Better knowledge of circulation, hydrography, and associated variability will be very useful for an effective and sustainable management of marine resources in Atlantic Canada. Circulation and hydrography in the region are affected strongly by wind, tides, surface heat and freshwater fluxes, and the interaction of two large-scale current systems: the Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream. Significant progress has been made in the last three decades in determining the general mean circulation from various oceanographic observations and numerical model results in the region. Less progress was made, however, in quantifying the seasonal and inter-annual variability of circulation and hydrodynamic connectivity in the region. The long-term objectives of this proposal are to examine the seasonal and inter-annual variability of circulation and assess the effects of physical processes on the marine ecosystem dynamics on the eastern Canadian shelf. The short-term objectives of the proposal are (1) to study the variability in the last 50 years using three-dimensional ocean circulation models, (2) to calculate the retention/dispersion and hydrodynamic connectivity; and (3) to develop a coupled bio-physical numerical model for the study region.