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A Nested Nearshore Nutrient Model (N&Sup3;M) for Nearshore Condition Assessment and Management
Citation:
Brown, T., J. Pauer, T. Hollenhorst, X. Zhang, AND W. Melendez. A Nested Nearshore Nutrient Model (N&Sup3;M) for Nearshore Condition Assessment and Management. To be Presented at International Association for Great Lakes Research, Detroit, MI, May 15 - 19, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
not applicable
Description:
Nearshore conditions drive phenomena like harmful algal blooms (HABs), and the nearshore and coastal margin are the parts of the Great Lakes most used by humans. To assess conditions, optimize monitoring, and evaluate management options, a model of nearshore nutrient transport and algal dynamics is being developed. The model targets a “regional” spatial scale, similar to the Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Framework's sub-basins, which divide the nearshore into 30 regions. Model runs are 365 days, a whole season temporal scale, reporting at 3 hour intervals. N³M uses output from existing hydrodynamic models and simple transport kinetics. The nutrient transport component of this model is largely complete, and is being tested with various hydrodynamic data sets. The first test case covers a 200 km² area between two major tributaries to Lake Michigan, the Grand and Muskegon. N³M currently simulates phosphorous and chloride, selected for their distinct in-lake transport dynamics; nitrogen will be added. Initial results for 2003, 2010, and 2015 show encouraging correlations with field measurements. Initially implemented in MatLab, the model is currently implemented in Python and leverages multi-processor computation. The 4D in-browser visualizer Cesium is used to view model output, time varying satellite imagery, and field observations.