River plume patterns and dynamics within the Southern California Bight

Warrick, Jonathan A.; DiGiacomo, Paul M.; Weisberg, Stephen B.; Nezlin, Nikolay P.; Mengel, Michael J.; Jones, Burt; Ohlmann, J. Carter; Washburn, Libe; Terrill, Eric; Farnsworth, Katherine L.

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2007.06.015

Cited by 112 publications

(54 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Sediment (Ogston et al 2000;Geyer et al 2000), nutrients (Kudela et al 2008), and pollutants collected in the river basin have a significant impact on biological productivity (Hickey et al 2010) and the environmental quality of coastal waters (Wang 2006). Coastally trapped buoyant plumes have been observed to propagate for long distances along the coast (Rennie et al 1999;Lentz and Largier 2006;Warrick et al 2007;Hickey et al 2010) and thus provide an effective mechanism for the alongshore transport of freshwater, as well as dissolved and suspended material in the buoyant water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Response of a Buoyant Plume to Downwelling-Favorable Wind Stress

Moffat

Lentz

2012

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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Here, the response of a coastally trapped buoyant plume to downwelling-favorable wind forcing is explored using a simplified two-dimensional numerical model and a prognostic theory for the resulting width, depth, and density anomaly and along-shelf transport of the plume. Consistent with the numerical simulations, the analytical model shows that the wind causes mixing of the plume water and that the forced cross-shelf circulation can also generate significant deepening and surface narrowing, as well as increased along-shelf transport. The response is due to a combination of the purely advective process that leads to the steepening of the isopycnals and the entrainment of ambient water into the plume. The advective component depends on the initial plume geometry: plumes that have a large fraction of their total width in contact with the bottom (''bottom trapped'') suffer relatively small depth and width changes compared to plumes that have a large fraction of their total width detached from the bottom (''surface trapped''). Key theoretical parameters are W g /W a , the ratio of the width of the plume detached from the bottom to the width of the plume in contact with it, and the ratio of the wind-generated mixed layer d e to the initial plume depth h p , which determines the amount of water initially entrained into the plume. The model results also show that the cross-shelf circulation can be strongly influenced by the wind-driven response in combination with the geostrophic shear of the plume. The continuous entrainment into the plume, as well as transient events, is also discussed.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the Response of a Buoyant Plume to Downwelling-Favorable Wind Stress

Moffat

Lentz

2012

Journal of Physical Oceanography

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“…Processes such as internal tides and internal waves are often formed by the topography and tend to propagate cross-shelf resulting in significant cross-shelf variability. In addition, coastal inputs such as river discharges are constrained in the offshore direction by the coastal currents and have extensive along-shelf scales and shallow vertical scales (Warrick et al, 2007;Washburn, McClure, Jones, & Bay, 2003). On the large scale, coastal California is characterized by baroclinic Rossby radii of deformation that range from 30 km in the south to ∼20 km in the north (Chelton, deSzoeke, Schlax, Naggar, & Siwertz, 1998).…”

Section: Smith Et Al: Persistent Ocean Monitoring With Underwater Glmentioning

confidence: 99%

Persistent ocean monitoring with underwater gliders: Towards accurate reconstruction of dynamic ocean processes

Smith

Schwager

Smith

et al. 2011

2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation

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Ocean processes are dynamic and complex and occur on multiple spatial and temporal scales. To obtain a synoptic view of such processes, ocean scientists collect data over long time periods. Historically, measurements were continually provided by fixed sensors, e.g., moorings, or gathered from ships. Recently, an increase in the utilization of autonomous underwater vehicles has enabled a more dynamic data acquisition approach. However, we still do not utilize the full capabilities of these vehicles. Here we present algorithms that produce persistent monitoring missions for underwater vehicles by balancing path following accuracy and sampling resolution for a given region of interest, which addresses a pressing need among ocean scientists to efficiently and effectively collect high-value data. More specifically, this paper proposes a path planning algorithm and a speed control algorithm for underwater gliders, which together give informative trajectories for the glider to persistently monitor a patch of ocean. We optimize a cost function that blends two competing factors: maximize the information value along the path while minimizing deviation from the planned path due to ocean currents. Speed is controlled along the planned path by adjusting the pitch angle of the underwater glider, so that higher resolution samples are collected in areas of higher information value. The resulting paths are closed circuits that can be repeatedly traversed to collect long-term ocean data in dynamic environments. The algorithms were tested during sea trials on an underwater glider operating off the coast of southern California, as well as in Monterey Bay, California. The experimental results show improvements in both data resolution and path reliability compared to previously executed sampling paths used in the respective regions. C 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…Anderson et al (2009) chose not to evaluate river discharge as a model variable, but presented a Pseudo-nitzschia bloom model and a cellular toxicity model that included particle absorption and absorption of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM), variables which are associated with significant recent river discharge events (Warrick et al 2004(Warrick et al , 2007. In both models, high particulate absorption was negatively associated with the dependent variable, suggesting a direct negative relationship between high river discharge and Pseudo-nitzschia blooms.…”

Section: Comparative Model Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

Development of a logistic regression model for the prediction of toxigenic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms in Monterey Bay, California

Lane¹,

Raimondi²,

Kudela³

2009

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Blooms of the diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia have been recognized as a public health issue in California since 1991 when domoic acid, the neurotoxin produced by toxigenic species of Pseudo-nitzschia, was first detected in local shellfish. Although these blooms are recurring and recognized hazards, the factors driving bloom proliferation remain poorly understood. The lack of longterm field studies and/or deficiencies in the scope of environmental data included within them hinders the development of robust forecasting tools. For this study, we successfully developed predictive logistic models of toxigenic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms in Monterey Bay, California, from a multi-project dataset representing 8.3 yr of sampling effort. Models were developed for year-round (annual model) or seasonal use (spring and fall-winter models). The consideration of seasonality was significant: chlorophyll a (chl a) and silicic acid were predictors in all models, but period-specific inclusions of temperature, upwelling index, river discharge, and/or nitrate provided significant model refinement. Predictive power for 'unknown' (future) bloom cases was demonstrated at ≥75% for all models, out-performing a chl a anomaly model, and performing comparably to, or better than, previously described statistical models for Pseudo-nitzschia blooms or toxicity. The models presented here are the first to have been developed from long-term (>1.5 yr) monitoring efforts, and the first to have been developed for bloom prediction of toxigenic Pseudo-nitzschia species. The descriptive capacity of our models places historical and recent observations into greater ecological context, which could help to resolve historical alternation between the implication of freshwater discharge and upwelling processes in bloom dynamics.

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River plume patterns and dynamics within the Southern California Bight

Cited by 112 publications

References 39 publications

On the Response of a Buoyant Plume to Downwelling-Favorable Wind Stress

On the Response of a Buoyant Plume to Downwelling-Favorable Wind Stress

Persistent ocean monitoring with underwater gliders: Towards accurate reconstruction of dynamic ocean processes

Development of a logistic regression model for the prediction of toxigenic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms in Monterey Bay, California

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