PNWTOX simulations

PNWTOX validation - physics

observations

2005 in-situ observations

Moorings are marked in red circles. The RISE project (RN, RC, and RS) and the ECOHAB-PNW project (EH1, EH2, EH3, and EH4) deployed moorings during summer 2005 that included bottom mounted ADCPs and moored CTDs at multiple depths. IOS deployed a bottom mounted ADCP in the Juan de Fuca Strait (J2C) and current meters and CTDs at 4 depths offshore (A1) nearly continuously through the year. CTD casts, marked in blue dots, were conducted throughout the region and year as part of a variety of sampling projects including the ECOHAB-PNW project, RISE project, DOE, PRISM, Hood Canal, IOS, King County, and NOAA. NOAA tide gauges with data throughout the year are marked in green triangles.

Special thanks to B. Hickey (multiyear moored sensors and CTD data from the ECOHAB-PNW and RISE projects), E. Dever (multiyear moored sensors from the RISE project), R. Thomson (moored arrays and CTD data, Fisheries and Oceans Canada Institute of Ocean Sciences, IOS), V. Trainer and A. Odell (PN cell count data, Olympic Regional Harmful Algal Blooms Partnership, ORHAB), B. Peterson (multiyear Oregon CTD data), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA, CTD data and tide gauges), the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary (OCNMS, multiyear Washington moored sensors), the Puget Sound Regional Synthesis Model (PRISM, Puget Sound CTD data), Washington State Department of Ecology (DOE, Puget Sound CTD data), King County Puget Sound Marine Monitoring (Puget Sound CTD data), and the Hood Canal citizen monitoring project (Hood Canal CTD data) for use of their data.

In the example plot below the observations are marked in black, the NCOM global model in thin grey, and the PNWTOX simulations in thick grey. The NCOM global model provides our open boundary conditions. For more validation figures, click the links below or the map to the left.


2005 RISE South (RS) observation/model comparison

a) Subtidal near surface along-stream velocity (ms-1) and b) subtidal near surface salinity (psu) for the RS observations (black), global model (NCOM, thin grey), and PNWTOX model (thick grey). The correlation coefficient (r) and Skill Score (SS) are included on the figure. r is a measure of the degree of correlation between the model and the observations while SS also includes a measure of mean bias.

Click on the map above or links below for more validation figures! Also see more detail in Giddings et al. 2014