A three-dimensional numerical model simulates circulation in Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays, driven by tides, wind, river runoff, and thermal forcing. The U.S. Geological Survey developed this model to study the transport of nutrients, contaminants, and red tide populations. The dataset was last updated in 1992.
Use Cases
- Calibrate water quality models using the simulated circulation data as input for transport calculations.
- Analyze the influence of wind and tidal forcing on the modeled three-dimensional current fields.
- Study the transport mechanisms of toxic Alexandrium cells using the model's physical transport outputs.
- Verify sediment transport models by comparing them against the hydrodynamic model's current and suspended sediment simulations.
- Test the model's ability to simulate the effects of relocated effluent discharge from the new outfall.
Strengths
- Model incorporates multiple physical drivers: tides, wind, river runoff, and surface heating/cooling.
- Designed for a multi-year study program, including a planned three-year development of a regional sediment transport model.
Limitations
- The dataset's last update was in 1992, making the model outputs potentially temporally stale.
- Specific model resolution, row counts, and file sizes are unknown.
Provenance
- Source
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), with collaborators from WHOI and UNH.
- Collection Method
- Numerical three-dimensional circulation model.
- Time Range
- null
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- Massachusetts Bay, Cape Cod Bays, and the western Gulf of Maine.