Coastal Upwelling Studies Using A Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Model

Natalie Perlin, Eric Skyllingstad, Roger Samelson, and Phil Barbour
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Oregon State University.

A fully coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling system is applied to study
summertime wind-driven coastal upwelling off Oregon. Two-way model interaction during the simulation supplies the ocean model with atmospheric wind stress and heat fluxes, including solar radiation; the atmosphere receives sea surface temperatures as a feedback from the ocean. Current idealized studies with 1km horizontal resolution in both models are set essentially as two-dimensional cases, being periodic in north-south direction, with eastern coastal wall and
linear shelf slope.

Model results suggest that coastal upwelling develops faster when surface wind and heat forcing from atmospheric model is used. In the atmosphere, internal boundary layer developes over the cold inshore waters during the coupled simulation.

Plans for future work involve extention of the ocean domain further offshore to include shelf break, inclusion of coastal topography, and ultimately, alongshore variations in coastal bathymetric and topographic features. Previous observational and modeling studies demonstrate that irregular coastline could notably affect wind forcing of the coastal ocean.