ROMS implementation for the British Columbia coastal waters

Diane Masson, John Morrison, Patrick Cummins and Mike Foreman
Institute of Ocean Sciences
Sidney, BC, Canada


ROMS has been implemented on a 3 km grid for the entire coast of British Columbia, extending from the Columbia River to the south and to the Alaska border to the north. The model is forced by tides, winds, river runoff and atmospheric heat flux. It is initialized with mean climatology and run through a complete annual cycle, with seasonal winds (NCEP), river discharge, and boundary conditions. The model results will be validated against available observations. Of particular interest is the simulation of the seasonal change in the coastal regime from upwelling to downwelling, as well as the formation of eddies along the continental margin.