Development of a Data Sampling Strategy for Semienclosed Seas Using a Shallow-Water Model*

Abstract

Abstract The interdependence of numerical coastal ocean models and field observations forms a basis for development of a data sampling strategy. The sampling strategy is centered on the identification of regions for field measurement that have the greatest impact on model-simulated dynamics. Comparisons, both qualitative and quantitative, between model-computed tides from a data-assimilative, barotropic tidal model in the Yellow and East China Seas that assimilates 114 tidal height observations, and model simulations that assimilate a single station group, defined by bathymetry or location within a dynamically active region, indicate that spatial location of the data has the greatest impact on computed model response. Tidal height information from deep water is shown to minimally influence predictions in shallower shelf waters. Coastally located data capture finescale, highly nonlinear tidal interactions spawned by complex bathymetry and irregular shorelines in localized areas. Tidal stations at shallow i...