Circulation and Mixing in the Ningaloo Marine Park

This project addresses parts of Projects C1, C2 and C3 in so much as each of these projects hinges on having the capacity to model the circulation and mixing of water, nutrients, propagules or pollutants. A numerical model that includes forcing due to wind, waves and tides will be used to simulate currents and dispersion over time scales of 1- 10days and spatial scales of 10-100km. The model will be tested against data collected during the startup projects in April/May 2006. Following satisfactory calibration of the model against the in situ data the model will be upscaled to simulate circulation over larger sections of the reef (up to 100km). Over the larger model domain we will undertake to model a number of different scenarios to address issues of particle dispersion and settlement, and climate related changes such as rising sea level, changing offshore wave climate or changes in offshore sea surface temperature.