Intro
The Situation
Oceanographic modeling can provide valuable information for decision makers, such as understanding local and regional currents that help dictate habitat type. There is currently no publicly available high resolution database of oceanographic parameters in the northeast. Recent advancements in oceanographic modeling and data networking have made the development and dissemination of such a database possible.
The Project
Researchers at the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) at UMASS Dartmouth and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) have developed the Northeast Coastal Ocean Forecast System (NECOFS), which is an integrated atmosphere-ocean model system designed for the northeast US coastal region. The core of this model system is the Finite-Volume Coastal Ocean Model (FVCOM) specifically configured for the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank /New England Shelf (FVCOM-GoM).
The model will produce a database of oceanographic parameters throughout the northeast from 1978-2010. These data along with a set of data analysis products for ocean management application will be made available for scientists and researchers. Requests can be made to the Massachusetts Ocean Partnership though products will not be available before 2012.
An advisory council composed of oceanographic modelers, end users, and data interoperability experts will advise the development and dissemination of the database and analysis products (see Partners Tab).
Role in Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning
Oceanographic data are key foundational data for CMSP with numerous applications, including identifying and classifying habitats and siting new ocean uses, such as renewable energy. The data generated will be further used to support ecosystem tradeoff modeling, which will demonstrate interactions between ecosystem services and the resulting effects on different human uses in a dynamic ecosystem.
Challenges & Applications
Verifying data outputs from a large scale high resolution oceanographic model can be challenging and will rely on the expert knowledge of the partners in identifying observational data for comparisons.
The database of oceanographic parameters will be broadly applicable, and available to other CMSP efforts and scientific research throughout the northeast.
 |
|
Physical oceanographic parameters – such as current velocity, wind direction, and temperature – are significant drivers that frequently dictate habitat and determine where human uses occur or can be located. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
