A High-Resolution Coastal Circulation Model for Lunenburg Bay, Nova Scotia

Abstract

A high-resolution coastal circulation model is used to study the three-dimensional barotropic circulation in Lunenburg Bay and adjacent Upper and Lower South Coves, Nova Scotia. The model is driven by tidal forcing and shelf waves specified at the model open boundaries and wind stress applied at the sea surface. The tidal forcing at the model open boundaries is inferred from the tidal sea level prediction at Lunenburg Harbor. The remotely generated sub-inertial shelf waves that propagate into the model domain through the model open boundaries are calculated by a coarse-resolution storm surge model for the eastern Canadian seaboard (Bobanovic and Thompson, 2001). The high-resolution coastal circulation model used to investigate the nonlinear tidal dynamics in the study region. The model results demonstrate that tidal circulation in the bay and the two coves is highly nonlinear with strong tidal asymmetry between flooding and ebbing, with an intense narrow jet flowing outward from Upper South Cove to Lunenburg Bay during the ebb. The coastal circulation model is also used to simulate the barotropic circulation in Lunenburg Bay during Hurricane Gustav in the second week of September 2002. The model results demonstrate strong interactions between the local wind stress, tidal forcing, and remotely generated shelf waves during this period.