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Investigation of three-dimensional circulation and hydrography over the Pearl River Estuary of China using a nested-grid coastal circulation model

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Abstract

The Pearl River Estuary (PRE) in South China's Guangdong Province is a subtropical estuary with highly irregular topography and dynamically complicated circulations. A nested-grid coastal circulation modelling system is used in this study to examine dynamic responses of the PRE to tides, meteorological forcing and buoyancy forcing. The nested-grid modelling system is based on the Princeton Ocean Model and consists of three downscaling subcomponents: including an outer-most model with a coarse horizontal resolution of ~7 km for simulating tidally forced and wind-driven surface elevations and depth-mean currents over the China Seas from Bohai Sea to the northern South China Sea and an innermost model with a fine resolution of ~1.2 km for simulating the 3D coastal circulation and hydrography over the PRE and adjacent coastal waters. Model results during the winter northeast monsoon surge in January and super typhoon Koryn in June of 1993 are used to demonstrate that the 3D coastal circulation and hydrographic distributions in the PRE are affected by tides, winds and buoyancy forcing associated with river discharge from the Pearl River with significant seasonal and synoptic variabilities.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Qinzheng Liu, Fujiang Yu, Xuelian Yang, Chonghao Wang, Jinrong Chen, Jie Chen, Keith Thompson, Kyoko Ohashi, Yue-hesng Tseng for their contributions. We wish to thank two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments. This study is part of Hydrological Simulation & Regulation of Watersheds supported (funded) by National Natural Science Foundation of China (50721006), and supported by 948 Project Office of the China Ministry of Water Resources (project number: 200603) and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sediment Research, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, China

    Liqun Tang, Wenhong Cao & Dabin Liu

  2. Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3H 4J1

    Jinyu Sheng & Xiaomei Ji

  3. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China, 210093

    Xiaomei Ji

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  1. Liqun Tang
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  2. Jinyu Sheng
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  3. Xiaomei Ji
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  4. Wenhong Cao
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  5. Dabin Liu
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Correspondence to Jinyu Sheng.

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Responsible Editor: Phil Dyke

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Tang, L., Sheng, J., Ji, X. et al. Investigation of three-dimensional circulation and hydrography over the Pearl River Estuary of China using a nested-grid coastal circulation model. Ocean Dynamics 59, 899–919 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-009-0218-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-009-0218-1

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