Physical oceanographer interested in coastal and estuarine circulation modeling and monitoring Phone: 2395901879 Address: 10501 FGCU Blvd South Fort Myers, FL 33965-6565
Florida has a rich coastal and offshore biodiversity and ecology, and its low-lying geography wit... more Florida has a rich coastal and offshore biodiversity and ecology, and its low-lying geography with three dynamic coastlines is unique in many respects. Millions of people are attracted to visit, live, and work in the region. The same unique qualities make Florida highly exposed to impact-weather events, climate change, sea level rise, and environmental interference from exploding population growth over the last few decades. Environmental conditions must be monitored, baselines formed, and advanced circulation and ecosystem models created and verified (in-situ). The SeaWARRDD team discusses the proposed implementation of a comprehensive “Florida Coastal Ocean Observing System” beginning with a pilot study along the inner-West Florida Shelf. Our SeaWARRDD team brings decades of experience to the ocean-observing community, from the federal, state, academic, and private sectors including designing, developing, installing, and maintaining ocean (bay and estuary) monitoring and data colle...
ABSTRACT The AtchafalayaShelfofftheLouisianacoastintheUnitedStatesischaracterizedbyfinegrained se... more ABSTRACT The AtchafalayaShelfofftheLouisianacoastintheUnitedStatesischaracterizedbyfinegrained sedimentsdispersingintotheshelffromthelowerAtchafalayaRiverandWaxLakeoutlets.Rapid seawardflushingofthesediment-ladenriverplumes,duetowaterlevelset-downduringcoldfront passagesformsafluidmudlayerclosetothebottom,whicheffectivelydampensthewaveenergy. In thisstudy,theperformanceofaphase-averagedspectralwavemodelwasskillassessedbasedonthe wave datarecordedclosetothesouthernperipheryofthemudzoneduringseveraldaysinMarch2009. Separationofwavespectraintoseaandswellpartitionsshowedthatthewavemodeloverestimated the seawavesgeneratedbynortherlywindduringthecoldfrontpassage.Anon-stationaryschemewas needed tosolvethewaveactionbalanceequationtoincludethewinddynamicsduringthecoldfront passagesoverthestudyarea.Arecentlydevelopedmud-induceddissipationtermwasimprovedby modifyingitsalgorithmforsolvingtheimplicitdispersionequation.Themodifiedmodelbecame efficientenoughtobeusedfornon-stationarycalculations.Thethickness,density,kinematicviscosity of themudlayer,anditsoffshoreextentweredeterminedbytrialanderror.Themud-inducedenergy dissipationtermenabledthemodeltoreproducetheenergyattenuationofshortwavesbythefluid mud. Ahighvalueofmudviscosity(0.01–0.1m2/s) wasrequiredtoobtaingoodagreementwithinsitu measurementswhenthemaximumwaveheightoccurred.However,themodelusinglowervaluesof mud viscosity(0.001–0.01m2/s) wasmoresuccessfulinreproducingthemeasuredwavespectrafroma few hoursafterthemaximumwaveactivity.Thesimulationresultsalsoshowedthatpresenceoffluid mud withhighvalueofmudviscosityhinderedthewavegrowthinshallowwaterduetosuppression of highfrequencywaves.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of a 1.5 MHz Pulse-coherent Acoustic Doppler Pro... more The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of a 1.5 MHz Pulse-coherent Acoustic Doppler Profiler (PCADP) to measure suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in a muddy environment where SSC varies over several orders of magnitude. Two seasonal deployments were conducted south of the Atchafalaya-Vermilion Bay system along the Louisiana coast, USA. During a low discharge period of the Atchafalaya River, acoustical estimates of SSC were in good agreement with OBSs deployed. The second deployment was conducted during a high discharge period of the Atchafalaya River. The passage of a cold front across the coast resulted in a rapid advection of the river plume to the study area. High sensitivity of the OBS to fine-grained suspended sediments led to high values from the OBS readings. On the other hand, the PCADP barely sensed the transportation of fine-grained sediments and significantly responded to the combined wave and current shear stress close to sea bed. To reduce the influence of temporal variation of grain size distribution, acoustical backscatter measurements were calibrated over a time span of a few hours. The resulting SSC estimates from the time-adaptive calibration of the PCADPs were in good agreement with data from OBS sensors.
Wave and hydrodynamic models are implemented to investigate whether sand mining on a transgressiv... more Wave and hydrodynamic models are implemented to investigate whether sand mining on a transgressive sand shoal could influence hydrodynamic processes and sedimentary environment of the shoal covered with fine sediments. An effort is made to evaluating shoal hydrodynamic response to a hypothetical dredging scenario under a host of probable storm conditions. The model results show that changes in hydrodynamic and sedimentary environment strongly depend on the storm conditions and the shoal bathymetry. Wave dissipation, flow conditions and sediment re-suspension are significantly higher on the shallower western shoal and gradually decrease toward the deeper eastern section of the shoal. The finding suggests that the deeper eastern shoal can be exposed to frequent deposition of fine sediments, as opposed to the western shoal, despite its location farther away from the nearby major river mouth. It is concluded that large-scale sand mining, in particular from the shallower western shoal, is expected to profoundly alter the hydrodynamics and sediment suspension and deposition processes, which may also influence the benthic ecology of the shoal. The mining from the deeper eastern shoal may result in lesser impacts than the mining from the ecologically sensitive western shoal.
Hurricanes are tropical weather systems that play a significant role in the exchange of energy (h... more Hurricanes are tropical weather systems that play a significant role in the exchange of energy (heat) between the atmosphere and ocean. Sea surface temperature (SST) variability and mixed layer depth (MLD) modulates the intensity of tropical cyclones. TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) data corresponding to five hurricanes that traversed across the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and Caribbean Sea were analyzed for evaluating the response of upper-ocean parameters to passing hurricanes. Data on SST, rainfall, wind speed, and MLD (from HYCOM) were compared from pre- and post-storm conditions. Daily data from the satellites were extracted from TMI data archives (http://www.remss.com/missions/tmi/) and further averaged during the time of hurricanes traversing across the GOM. Pre-storm conditions were generated by averaging data from the immediate days before hurricanes entering the GOM. Fast-moving Hurricane Charley cooled the West Florida Shelf by merely ~ 0.5°C, while Hurricane Ivan came through the f...
Water level measurements at four stations from Chabahar Bay, Iran, have been analyzed to investig... more Water level measurements at four stations from Chabahar Bay, Iran, have been analyzed to investigate the storm surge induced by Cyclone Gonu in June 2007. Water level data include semi-diurnal tidal variations and sub-tidal frequency variations induced by atmospheric forcing. A low-pass filter with a cut-off frequency of 30 hours was used to deduce the storm surge induced by Gonu from the total measured water level. Results show that at all four stations, a maximum water level rise of about 0.4 m was produced by the cyclone at the time that Gonu’s eye was in the Gulf of Oman closest to Chabahar Bay. Low atmospheric pressure and wind shear, major mechanisms for storm surge generation, were examined to determine the contribution from each to the observed water level rise. Pressure maps over the Gulf of Oman and northern Arabian Sea showed that more than 75% of the storm surge at Chabahar was produced by low atmospheric pressure and the rest was attributed to wind shear. This is consis...
Abstract Simulating hurricane-generated waves is a challenging task due to rapidly fluctuating wi... more Abstract Simulating hurricane-generated waves is a challenging task due to rapidly fluctuating wind speed and direction, simultaneous presence of swells propagating out of the previous location of the hurricane and following/opposing waves on either side of the hurricane track, and dissipation in wind speed radially from the center of the hurricane. Bulk wave parameters have been investigated using the source term packages ST3, ST4 and ST6 implemented in the WAVEWATCH-III model to determine the most appropriate formulation for simulating hurricane-generated waves in the Gulf of Mexico. Based on the comparisons between model results and in situ observations during the passage of Hurricane Ivan (2004), it is shown that ST3 is not as successful as other formulations for hurricane wave modeling. Calibrated ST6 variant, T12, has shown to be the best formulation for simulating bulk wave parameters at points within the range of hurricane wind forcing; however, for the area beyond, and also during fair weather conditions, calibrated ST4 formulation, T471-Ex4, is recommended. Although T471-EX4 and T12 packages outperformed other cases, they overestimated waves propagating in the oblique and opposing wind. Dependence of ST6 parameter a 0 on wind and wave direction is examined to improve the model performance.
Journal of Coastal Conservation would like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to all thos... more Journal of Coastal Conservation would like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to all those scientists and experts who have devoted their time and effort to reviewing the papers we have sent you and for the excellent reviews and final decisions that have been made during 2018. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge your invaluable contributions to the journal paper review process in the list below:
the Head Bay. In the upper troposphere, uplift in geopotential height was found as a result of co... more the Head Bay. In the upper troposphere, uplift in geopotential height was found as a result of cooling in higher levels (10-100 mb). Variability in omega also substantiated the observed variations in geopotential height. The study also finds weakening in the upper level westerlies and easterlies. Interestingly, a linear trend in lower tropospheric u-wind component also reveals an east-west dipole pattern over the study region. Further, the study corroborates the reported dipole in trends of sea level pressure, wind speed and significant wave height by evaluating the influence of atmospheric variability on these parameters. Keywords Air pressure • Climate • Atmosphere • Ocean • Sea level pressure • Bay of Bengal 1 Introduction The head Bay of Bengal that surrounds the coastal areas of India and Bangladesh is a low lying deltaic environment. This thickly populated fertile delta is exposed to a host of natural and anthropogenic threats, which include the compaction and subsidence of the delta, land-fall of severe cyclones, rapid rise in sea level, and exposure to extreme wind and wave climate. Wind-waves play an essential role in determining the coastal vulnerability by means of wave energy impact on the coastal environment. A comprehensive understanding on the variability of wind-waves and its characteristics are important for sustainable coastal zone management. The variability of wind-wave climate over Bay of Bengal has been explored through observations and numerical modeling (
MIKE 21 SW is a third generation spectral wind wave model based on unstructured meshes. The unstr... more MIKE 21 SW is a third generation spectral wind wave model based on unstructured meshes. The unstructured mesh approach gives the model maximum degree of flexibility. For small-scale applications, the basic conservation equations are usually formulated in Cartesian co-ordinates, while spherical polar co-ordinates are used for large-scale applications. The spatial discretization of the conservation equation for wave action is performed using an unstructured finite volume method. The integration in time is based on a fractional step approach, where the propagation step is solved using an explicit method. Detailed description of all the source functions and the numerical methods used in the model are elaborated in Sorensen et al (2004). The mesh grid for the domain, Gulf of Mexico, is generated using the bathymetric data from US coastal relief model (NGDC/NOAA) and ETOPO-2 model. The data resolution of 3 arc-second is used for the Louisiana coast and for the rest of the US coast 15 arc-...
... S. Mostafa Siadatmousavi a , b , Corresponding Author Contact Information , E-mail The Corres... more ... S. Mostafa Siadatmousavi a , b , Corresponding Author Contact Information , E-mail The Corresponding Author , F. Jose a and GW Stone a , b. a Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. ...
As the Gulf of Mexico has experienced major environmental hazards in the recent past, e.g. the BP... more As the Gulf of Mexico has experienced major environmental hazards in the recent past, e.g. the BP oil spill in 2010, landfall of major hurricanes, and the frequent outbreak of red tide (Karenia brevis), it is required to evaluate possible alterations in the water quality and biogeochemical balance of this partially enclosed waterbody. Chlorophyll concentrations (Chl-a) and sea surface temperature (SST) Level-2 data from five satellites during the period from 2009 to 2013 were analyzed for their spatial, temporal, and inter-annual variability. Based on the evaluation of data from 24 transects from the West Florida Shelf (WFS), highest Chl-a was observed for the sector from St. Petersburg to Sanibel Island. Additionally, high Chl-a was observed for the Big Bend region, particularly during the spring and early summer. SST distribution also closely followed Chl-a distribution, even though occasional uptick in SST values were noticed from the inner continental shelf even during high prim...
Third-generation models employ a host of parameterization schemes to consider the input wind forc... more Third-generation models employ a host of parameterization schemes to consider the input wind forcing and the wave energy dissipation under different physical settings and environmental conditions. To evaluate the performance of such models in large-scale enclosed water bodies, WAVEWATCH-III model has been employed for the Caspian Sea which is a land-locked water body, located in the north of Iran. The Caspian Sea consists of three interconnected regions, called the northern, middle, and southern Caspian Sea. The division is based on the bathymetry and morphologic features, and the rapid variability in depth provides a unique modeling challenge. Recently implemented “ST6” physics in the WAVEWATCH-III model is calibrated and evaluated for the Caspian Sea. Moreover, both bottom friction methods, viz., JONSWAP and SHOWEX, in combination with calibrated ST6 were employed to fine-tune the model for this fetch-limited basin. Model performance was assessed using recent coastal measurements along the southern Caspian Sea as well as altimeter data via statistical parameters. Using ST6 calibration, the HH index for model performance against altimeter data was decreased by 7.7%. For the ADCP data, this improvement was ~17% at Noshahr station, and ~7% at Roudsar station, both along the southern boundary of the sea. The bias was decreased by 19.3% by calibrating the ST6 source term, specifically in the deeper areas. It should be noted that the bias against altimeter data has been improved by 19.5%. Due to the steep slope of the surf zone, the model was not so sensitive to the bottom friction formulation; however, the 1D propagation tests confirmed a slightly better performance of the SHOWEX formulation than that of the JONSWAP formulation.
Juvenile smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were monitored in the Peace River, Florida. A ser... more Juvenile smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were monitored in the Peace River, Florida. A series of 37 acoustic receivers was used throughout the river, 9 of which were time synchronized. In 2016, 20 individuals were tagged and tracked from 27 May through 26 October. Most juveniles resided along the northern shoreline during the day, and some individuals crossed the river at night. Eleven smalltooth sawfish were detected on the southern shoreline, and 6 individuals used it extensively. Estimates of the sawfish positions were sorted into 3 habitat types: shallow, deep, and oyster reef. While at the southern shoreline, all sawfish tended to occupy shallow water, and most of them visited the oyster reefs. These results 1) improve our understanding of how the most productive nursery habitats function within the overall nursery, 2) will continue to influence decisions regarding management in this unique nursery, and 3) have implications for recovery planning for other nurseries of this endangered species.
Florida has a rich coastal and offshore biodiversity and ecology, and its low-lying geography wit... more Florida has a rich coastal and offshore biodiversity and ecology, and its low-lying geography with three dynamic coastlines is unique in many respects. Millions of people are attracted to visit, live, and work in the region. The same unique qualities make Florida highly exposed to impact-weather events, climate change, sea level rise, and environmental interference from exploding population growth over the last few decades. Environmental conditions must be monitored, baselines formed, and advanced circulation and ecosystem models created and verified (in-situ). The SeaWARRDD team discusses the proposed implementation of a comprehensive “Florida Coastal Ocean Observing System” beginning with a pilot study along the inner-West Florida Shelf. Our SeaWARRDD team brings decades of experience to the ocean-observing community, from the federal, state, academic, and private sectors including designing, developing, installing, and maintaining ocean (bay and estuary) monitoring and data colle...
ABSTRACT The AtchafalayaShelfofftheLouisianacoastintheUnitedStatesischaracterizedbyfinegrained se... more ABSTRACT The AtchafalayaShelfofftheLouisianacoastintheUnitedStatesischaracterizedbyfinegrained sedimentsdispersingintotheshelffromthelowerAtchafalayaRiverandWaxLakeoutlets.Rapid seawardflushingofthesediment-ladenriverplumes,duetowaterlevelset-downduringcoldfront passagesformsafluidmudlayerclosetothebottom,whicheffectivelydampensthewaveenergy. In thisstudy,theperformanceofaphase-averagedspectralwavemodelwasskillassessedbasedonthe wave datarecordedclosetothesouthernperipheryofthemudzoneduringseveraldaysinMarch2009. Separationofwavespectraintoseaandswellpartitionsshowedthatthewavemodeloverestimated the seawavesgeneratedbynortherlywindduringthecoldfrontpassage.Anon-stationaryschemewas needed tosolvethewaveactionbalanceequationtoincludethewinddynamicsduringthecoldfront passagesoverthestudyarea.Arecentlydevelopedmud-induceddissipationtermwasimprovedby modifyingitsalgorithmforsolvingtheimplicitdispersionequation.Themodifiedmodelbecame efficientenoughtobeusedfornon-stationarycalculations.Thethickness,density,kinematicviscosity of themudlayer,anditsoffshoreextentweredeterminedbytrialanderror.Themud-inducedenergy dissipationtermenabledthemodeltoreproducetheenergyattenuationofshortwavesbythefluid mud. Ahighvalueofmudviscosity(0.01–0.1m2/s) wasrequiredtoobtaingoodagreementwithinsitu measurementswhenthemaximumwaveheightoccurred.However,themodelusinglowervaluesof mud viscosity(0.001–0.01m2/s) wasmoresuccessfulinreproducingthemeasuredwavespectrafroma few hoursafterthemaximumwaveactivity.Thesimulationresultsalsoshowedthatpresenceoffluid mud withhighvalueofmudviscosityhinderedthewavegrowthinshallowwaterduetosuppression of highfrequencywaves.
The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of a 1.5 MHz Pulse-coherent Acoustic Doppler Pro... more The aim of this study is to evaluate the ability of a 1.5 MHz Pulse-coherent Acoustic Doppler Profiler (PCADP) to measure suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in a muddy environment where SSC varies over several orders of magnitude. Two seasonal deployments were conducted south of the Atchafalaya-Vermilion Bay system along the Louisiana coast, USA. During a low discharge period of the Atchafalaya River, acoustical estimates of SSC were in good agreement with OBSs deployed. The second deployment was conducted during a high discharge period of the Atchafalaya River. The passage of a cold front across the coast resulted in a rapid advection of the river plume to the study area. High sensitivity of the OBS to fine-grained suspended sediments led to high values from the OBS readings. On the other hand, the PCADP barely sensed the transportation of fine-grained sediments and significantly responded to the combined wave and current shear stress close to sea bed. To reduce the influence of temporal variation of grain size distribution, acoustical backscatter measurements were calibrated over a time span of a few hours. The resulting SSC estimates from the time-adaptive calibration of the PCADPs were in good agreement with data from OBS sensors.
Wave and hydrodynamic models are implemented to investigate whether sand mining on a transgressiv... more Wave and hydrodynamic models are implemented to investigate whether sand mining on a transgressive sand shoal could influence hydrodynamic processes and sedimentary environment of the shoal covered with fine sediments. An effort is made to evaluating shoal hydrodynamic response to a hypothetical dredging scenario under a host of probable storm conditions. The model results show that changes in hydrodynamic and sedimentary environment strongly depend on the storm conditions and the shoal bathymetry. Wave dissipation, flow conditions and sediment re-suspension are significantly higher on the shallower western shoal and gradually decrease toward the deeper eastern section of the shoal. The finding suggests that the deeper eastern shoal can be exposed to frequent deposition of fine sediments, as opposed to the western shoal, despite its location farther away from the nearby major river mouth. It is concluded that large-scale sand mining, in particular from the shallower western shoal, is expected to profoundly alter the hydrodynamics and sediment suspension and deposition processes, which may also influence the benthic ecology of the shoal. The mining from the deeper eastern shoal may result in lesser impacts than the mining from the ecologically sensitive western shoal.
Hurricanes are tropical weather systems that play a significant role in the exchange of energy (h... more Hurricanes are tropical weather systems that play a significant role in the exchange of energy (heat) between the atmosphere and ocean. Sea surface temperature (SST) variability and mixed layer depth (MLD) modulates the intensity of tropical cyclones. TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI) data corresponding to five hurricanes that traversed across the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and Caribbean Sea were analyzed for evaluating the response of upper-ocean parameters to passing hurricanes. Data on SST, rainfall, wind speed, and MLD (from HYCOM) were compared from pre- and post-storm conditions. Daily data from the satellites were extracted from TMI data archives (http://www.remss.com/missions/tmi/) and further averaged during the time of hurricanes traversing across the GOM. Pre-storm conditions were generated by averaging data from the immediate days before hurricanes entering the GOM. Fast-moving Hurricane Charley cooled the West Florida Shelf by merely ~ 0.5°C, while Hurricane Ivan came through the f...
Water level measurements at four stations from Chabahar Bay, Iran, have been analyzed to investig... more Water level measurements at four stations from Chabahar Bay, Iran, have been analyzed to investigate the storm surge induced by Cyclone Gonu in June 2007. Water level data include semi-diurnal tidal variations and sub-tidal frequency variations induced by atmospheric forcing. A low-pass filter with a cut-off frequency of 30 hours was used to deduce the storm surge induced by Gonu from the total measured water level. Results show that at all four stations, a maximum water level rise of about 0.4 m was produced by the cyclone at the time that Gonu’s eye was in the Gulf of Oman closest to Chabahar Bay. Low atmospheric pressure and wind shear, major mechanisms for storm surge generation, were examined to determine the contribution from each to the observed water level rise. Pressure maps over the Gulf of Oman and northern Arabian Sea showed that more than 75% of the storm surge at Chabahar was produced by low atmospheric pressure and the rest was attributed to wind shear. This is consis...
Abstract Simulating hurricane-generated waves is a challenging task due to rapidly fluctuating wi... more Abstract Simulating hurricane-generated waves is a challenging task due to rapidly fluctuating wind speed and direction, simultaneous presence of swells propagating out of the previous location of the hurricane and following/opposing waves on either side of the hurricane track, and dissipation in wind speed radially from the center of the hurricane. Bulk wave parameters have been investigated using the source term packages ST3, ST4 and ST6 implemented in the WAVEWATCH-III model to determine the most appropriate formulation for simulating hurricane-generated waves in the Gulf of Mexico. Based on the comparisons between model results and in situ observations during the passage of Hurricane Ivan (2004), it is shown that ST3 is not as successful as other formulations for hurricane wave modeling. Calibrated ST6 variant, T12, has shown to be the best formulation for simulating bulk wave parameters at points within the range of hurricane wind forcing; however, for the area beyond, and also during fair weather conditions, calibrated ST4 formulation, T471-Ex4, is recommended. Although T471-EX4 and T12 packages outperformed other cases, they overestimated waves propagating in the oblique and opposing wind. Dependence of ST6 parameter a 0 on wind and wave direction is examined to improve the model performance.
Journal of Coastal Conservation would like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to all thos... more Journal of Coastal Conservation would like to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to all those scientists and experts who have devoted their time and effort to reviewing the papers we have sent you and for the excellent reviews and final decisions that have been made during 2018. We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge your invaluable contributions to the journal paper review process in the list below:
the Head Bay. In the upper troposphere, uplift in geopotential height was found as a result of co... more the Head Bay. In the upper troposphere, uplift in geopotential height was found as a result of cooling in higher levels (10-100 mb). Variability in omega also substantiated the observed variations in geopotential height. The study also finds weakening in the upper level westerlies and easterlies. Interestingly, a linear trend in lower tropospheric u-wind component also reveals an east-west dipole pattern over the study region. Further, the study corroborates the reported dipole in trends of sea level pressure, wind speed and significant wave height by evaluating the influence of atmospheric variability on these parameters. Keywords Air pressure • Climate • Atmosphere • Ocean • Sea level pressure • Bay of Bengal 1 Introduction The head Bay of Bengal that surrounds the coastal areas of India and Bangladesh is a low lying deltaic environment. This thickly populated fertile delta is exposed to a host of natural and anthropogenic threats, which include the compaction and subsidence of the delta, land-fall of severe cyclones, rapid rise in sea level, and exposure to extreme wind and wave climate. Wind-waves play an essential role in determining the coastal vulnerability by means of wave energy impact on the coastal environment. A comprehensive understanding on the variability of wind-waves and its characteristics are important for sustainable coastal zone management. The variability of wind-wave climate over Bay of Bengal has been explored through observations and numerical modeling (
MIKE 21 SW is a third generation spectral wind wave model based on unstructured meshes. The unstr... more MIKE 21 SW is a third generation spectral wind wave model based on unstructured meshes. The unstructured mesh approach gives the model maximum degree of flexibility. For small-scale applications, the basic conservation equations are usually formulated in Cartesian co-ordinates, while spherical polar co-ordinates are used for large-scale applications. The spatial discretization of the conservation equation for wave action is performed using an unstructured finite volume method. The integration in time is based on a fractional step approach, where the propagation step is solved using an explicit method. Detailed description of all the source functions and the numerical methods used in the model are elaborated in Sorensen et al (2004). The mesh grid for the domain, Gulf of Mexico, is generated using the bathymetric data from US coastal relief model (NGDC/NOAA) and ETOPO-2 model. The data resolution of 3 arc-second is used for the Louisiana coast and for the rest of the US coast 15 arc-...
... S. Mostafa Siadatmousavi a , b , Corresponding Author Contact Information , E-mail The Corres... more ... S. Mostafa Siadatmousavi a , b , Corresponding Author Contact Information , E-mail The Corresponding Author , F. Jose a and GW Stone a , b. a Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA. ...
As the Gulf of Mexico has experienced major environmental hazards in the recent past, e.g. the BP... more As the Gulf of Mexico has experienced major environmental hazards in the recent past, e.g. the BP oil spill in 2010, landfall of major hurricanes, and the frequent outbreak of red tide (Karenia brevis), it is required to evaluate possible alterations in the water quality and biogeochemical balance of this partially enclosed waterbody. Chlorophyll concentrations (Chl-a) and sea surface temperature (SST) Level-2 data from five satellites during the period from 2009 to 2013 were analyzed for their spatial, temporal, and inter-annual variability. Based on the evaluation of data from 24 transects from the West Florida Shelf (WFS), highest Chl-a was observed for the sector from St. Petersburg to Sanibel Island. Additionally, high Chl-a was observed for the Big Bend region, particularly during the spring and early summer. SST distribution also closely followed Chl-a distribution, even though occasional uptick in SST values were noticed from the inner continental shelf even during high prim...
Third-generation models employ a host of parameterization schemes to consider the input wind forc... more Third-generation models employ a host of parameterization schemes to consider the input wind forcing and the wave energy dissipation under different physical settings and environmental conditions. To evaluate the performance of such models in large-scale enclosed water bodies, WAVEWATCH-III model has been employed for the Caspian Sea which is a land-locked water body, located in the north of Iran. The Caspian Sea consists of three interconnected regions, called the northern, middle, and southern Caspian Sea. The division is based on the bathymetry and morphologic features, and the rapid variability in depth provides a unique modeling challenge. Recently implemented “ST6” physics in the WAVEWATCH-III model is calibrated and evaluated for the Caspian Sea. Moreover, both bottom friction methods, viz., JONSWAP and SHOWEX, in combination with calibrated ST6 were employed to fine-tune the model for this fetch-limited basin. Model performance was assessed using recent coastal measurements along the southern Caspian Sea as well as altimeter data via statistical parameters. Using ST6 calibration, the HH index for model performance against altimeter data was decreased by 7.7%. For the ADCP data, this improvement was ~17% at Noshahr station, and ~7% at Roudsar station, both along the southern boundary of the sea. The bias was decreased by 19.3% by calibrating the ST6 source term, specifically in the deeper areas. It should be noted that the bias against altimeter data has been improved by 19.5%. Due to the steep slope of the surf zone, the model was not so sensitive to the bottom friction formulation; however, the 1D propagation tests confirmed a slightly better performance of the SHOWEX formulation than that of the JONSWAP formulation.
Juvenile smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were monitored in the Peace River, Florida. A ser... more Juvenile smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) were monitored in the Peace River, Florida. A series of 37 acoustic receivers was used throughout the river, 9 of which were time synchronized. In 2016, 20 individuals were tagged and tracked from 27 May through 26 October. Most juveniles resided along the northern shoreline during the day, and some individuals crossed the river at night. Eleven smalltooth sawfish were detected on the southern shoreline, and 6 individuals used it extensively. Estimates of the sawfish positions were sorted into 3 habitat types: shallow, deep, and oyster reef. While at the southern shoreline, all sawfish tended to occupy shallow water, and most of them visited the oyster reefs. These results 1) improve our understanding of how the most productive nursery habitats function within the overall nursery, 2) will continue to influence decisions regarding management in this unique nursery, and 3) have implications for recovery planning for other nurseries of this endangered species.
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Papers by Felix Jose