Geology ReportsSearch

Geology topics

Leslie Rosenfeld

Publications and source records attributed to Leslie Rosenfeld.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

Advancing coastal ocean modelling, analysis, and prediction for the US Integrated Ocean Observing System

This paper outlines strategies that would advance coastal ocean modelling, analysis and prediction as a complement to the observing and data management activities of the coastal components of the US Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS®) and the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). The views presented are the consensus of a group of US-based researchers with a cross-section of coastal oceanography and ocean modelling expertise and community representation drawn from Regional and US Federal partners in IOOS. Priorities for research and development are suggested that would enhance the value of IOOS observations through model-based synthesis, deliver better model-based information products, and assist the design, evaluation, and operation of the observing system itself. The proposed priorities are: model coupling, data assimilation, nearshore processes, cyberinfrastructure and model skill assessment, modelling for observing system design, evaluation and operation, ensemble prediction, and fast predictors. Approaches are suggested to accomplish substantial progress in a 3–8-year timeframe. In addition, the group proposes steps to promote collaboration between research and operations groups in Regional Associations, US Federal Agencies, and the international ocean research community in general that would foster coordination on scientific and technical issues, and strengthen federal–academic partnerships benefiting IOOS stakeholders and end users.

Journal of Operational Oceanography

IOOS modeling subsystem: vision and implementation strategy

Numerical modeling is vital to achieving the U.S. IOOS® goals of predicting, understanding and adapting to change in the ocean and Great Lakes. In the next decade IOOS should cultivate a holistic approach to coastal ocean prediction, and encourage more balanced investment among the observing, modeling and information management subsystems. We believe the vision of a prediction framework driven by observations, and leveraging advanced technology and understanding of the ocean and Great Lakes, would lead to a new era for IOOS that would not only produce more powerful information, but would also capture broad community support, particularly from the general public, thus allowing IOOS to develop into the comprehensive information system that was envisioned at the outset.

Book

Cross-shelf transport into nearshore waters due to shoaling internal tides in San Pedro Bay, CA

In the summer of 2001, a coastal ocean measurement program in the southeastern portion of San Pedro Bay, CA, was designed and carried out. One aim of the program was to determine the strength and effectiveness of local cross-shelf transport processes. A particular objective was to assess the ability of semidiurnal internal tidal currents to move suspended material a net distance across the shelf. Hence, a dense array of moorings was deployed across the shelf to monitor the transport patterns associated with fluctuations in currents, temperature and salinity. An associated hydrographic program periodically monitored synoptic changes in the spatial patterns of temperature, salinity, nutrients and bacteria. This set of measurements show that a series of energetic internal tides can, but do not always, transport subthermocline water, dissolved and suspended material from the middle of the shelf into the surfzone. Effective cross-shelf transport occurs only when (1) internal tides at the shelf break are strong and (2) subtidal currents flow strongly downcoast. The subtidal downcoast flow causes isotherms to tilt upward toward the coast, which allows energetic, nonlinear internal tidal currents to carry subthermocline waters into the surfzone. During these events, which may last for several days, the transported water remains in the surfzone until the internal tidal current pulses and/or the downcoast subtidal currents disappear. This nonlinear internal tide cross-shelf transport process was capable of carrying water and the associated suspended or dissolved material from the mid-shelf into the surfzone, but there were no observation of transport from the shelf break into the surfzone. Dissolved nutrients and suspended particulates (such as phytoplankton) transported from the mid-shelf into the nearshore region by nonlinear internal tides may contribute to nearshore algal blooms, including harmful algal blooms that occur off local beaches.

California

Bacterial contamination at Huntington Beach, California — Is it from a local offshore wastewater outfall?

During the summers of 1999 and 2000, beaches at Huntington Beach, California, were repeatedly closed to swimming because of high bacteria levels in the surf zone. The city’s beaches are a major recreational and commercial resource, normally attracting millions of visitors each summer. One possible source of the bacterial contamination was the Orange County Sanitation District’s sewage outfall, which discharges treated wastewater 4.5 miles offshore at a depth of 200 feet. Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and cooperating organizations have been investigating whether ocean currents and waves transport the wastewater to the beaches. These studies indicate that bacteria from the outfall are not a significant source of the beach contamination.

California

Huntington Beach shoreline contamination investigation, Phase III; Coastal circulation and transport patterns: The likelihood of OCSD's plume impacting Huntington Beach shoreline

A consortium of agencies have conducted an extensive investigation of the coastal ocean circulation and transport pathways off Huntington Beach, with the aim of identifying any causal links that may exist between the offshore discharge of wastewater by OCSD and the significant bacterial contamination observed along the Huntington Beach shoreline. This is the third study supported by OCSD to determine possible land-based and coa Although the study identifies several possible coastal ocean pathways by which diluted wastewater may be transported to the beach, including internal tide, sea-breeze and subtidal flow features, there were no direct observations of either the high bacteria concentrations seen in the OCSD plume at the shelf break reaching the shoreline in significant levels or of an association between the existence of a coastal ocean process and beach contamination at or above AB411 levels. It is concluded that the OCSD plume is not a major cause of beach contamination; no causal links could be demonstrated. This conclusion is based on the absence of direct observation of plume-beach links, on analysis of the spatial and temporal patterns of shoreline contamination and coastal ocean processes, and on the observation of higher levels of contamination at the beach than in the plume.

California