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Transport through Prince William Sound: numerical study in a nowcast/forecast system

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Abstract

Using 1-year simulated data from extended Prince William Sound (PWS) nowcast/forecast system, both barotropic and baroclinic transports through two-strait, semi-enclosed PWS are examined. With major tidal constituents removed, hourly time series of volume transports through two straits are significantly correlated with net transport well balanced by the time rate of change of the PWS spatial-mean sea level. A transition frequency band occurs within the coherence function of hourly volume transports, which is characterized by a nearly 180° phase shift between low-frequency (>30 h) and high-frequency (<6 h) bands. The transition band is implicitly related to the horizontally divergent and horizontally non-divergent flows inside the Sound. Further investigation of monthly and annual mean volume transports indicates strong seasonal variability of flows through two straits. On the other hand, baroclinic transport through PWS demonstrates the transition between a two-layered flow structure during the wintertime and a well-defined three-layered structure, i.e., inflow in both the surface and bottom layer with outflow in the intermediate layer, in the remainder of the year. This three-layer exchange flow is determined to be mainly buoyancy-driven, geostrophic flow, and thus largely affected by seasonal variability of buoyancy over the shelf and PWS.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks for the funding support from Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI, Alaska) and appreciates the help and suggestion from Prof. Christopher N.K. Mooers. Comments from two anonymous reviewers greatly improve the work.

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  1. Center of Computational Science, University of Miami, Miami, FL, 33136, USA

    Xinglong Wu

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  1. Xinglong Wu
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Correspondence to Xinglong Wu.

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Wu, X. Transport through Prince William Sound: numerical study in a nowcast/forecast system. Ocean Dynamics 61, 449–462 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-010-0372-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-010-0372-5

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