USGS Barnegat Bay Hydrodynamic Model for March-September 2012

Simulation of hydrodynamic circulation in Barnegat Bay for the period from 03-01-2012 to 10-01-2012. The bathymetry of the model was based on the National Ocean Service Hydrographic Survey data, and updated with recent bathymetric measurements. At the landward end (western boundary), we specified point sources of freshwater in accordance with USGS streamflow measurements at 7 gauges, and a radiation boundary condition that allows tidal energy to propagate landward. On the seaward end, tidal water level and velocity amplitudes from the ADCIRC tidal database for the North Atlantic were applied. These were supplemented by the subtidal water level and subtidal barotropic velocity from the ESPreSSO model, which covers the Mid-Atlantic Bight at 6-kilometer resolution. At the ocean boundary, a combination of Chapman, Flather, and gradient boundary conditions were used. Salinity and temperature was also supplied by the ESPreSSO model. A radiation condition with nudging on a 6-hour timescale for tracers allowed for relaxation of the model solution relative to the forcing data, which prevented sharp gradients at the seaward boundary and subsequent oscillations in the solution. We applied meteorological forcing from North American Mesoscale Model at the ocean-atmosphere interface. The bulk flux parameterization routine was used with 3-hour wind velocity, air pressure, long and shortwave radiation, relative humidity, and rain inputs. For more details on the model set up see Defne and Ganju, 2015. Reference cited: Defne, Zafer, and Ganju, N.K., 2015, Quantifying the residence time and flushing characteristics of a shallow, back-barrier estuaryApplication of hydrodynamic and particle tracking models: Estuaries and Coasts, v. 38, issue 5, p. 1719-1734. [Also available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-014-9885-3.]