Coastal Land-Air-Sea Interaction- Thornton Portion
Abstract
For some time (National Research Council, 1992), it has been recognized that operational wind forecasts are deficient at the coastal boundary. In large part, this is due to the fact that existing numerical weather prediction models, such as COAMPS, have insufficient spatial resolution to adequately resolve coastal processes, but there has not been a focused effort to better define and quantify all of the other contributing factors to model deficiencies in this zone. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that bulk, surface layer parameterizations do not account for the effects of surface currents and their dynamical feedback, variability in water temperature by fronts and internal waves, shoaling of surface gravity waves and topography (both sub-surface and sub-aerial) on the wind stress vector, which dynamically couples the atmosphere and ocean. This inadequate representation of the physics of the coastal air-sea interface can result in significant errors for key quantities derived from coastal models, such as the current velocities and its vertical structure, modification to wave characteristics, and the onset of wave breaking. The objectives of this project will seek to develop and/or modify parameterizations for the coastal (defined here as within 6-km of the shoreline) wind, momentum and heat flux variability through a comprehensive experimental and modeling program. The aim of CLASI will be to directly observe the nearshore (including mid-shelf, inner shelf, and surf zone) and onshore conditions using a collection of Air-Sea Interaction Spar (ASIS) buoys, inner shelf spar buoys (ISPAR) and coastal, land-based towers. This data will be supplemented with remotely-sensed observations (e.g. satellite and X-band radar and drone observations) and LES modeling. The results will be used to develop coast-aware parametrizations of air-sea fluxes for use inmesoscale numerical weather prediction models (here COAMPS, but will also be applicable to next generation models) and a toolbox that nearshore research community can utilize. The new parameterizations will be implemented into the high resolution COAMPS predictions of the wind vector fields, temperatures and fluxes in several distinct coastal typologies in Monterey Bay, South Florida and Hawaii. The coast-aware model output will be validated using portions of theCLASI data set not used in developing the new parameterizations, as a means of assessing the parameterizations generalizability.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- May 08, 2020
- Source ID
- N000142012461
Entities
People
- Edward B. Thornton
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- San José State University
- United States Navy