Investigation of three-dimensional circulation and hydrography over the Pearl River Estuary of China using a nested-grid coastal circulation model

Abstract

The Pearl River Estuary (PRE) in South China's Guangdong Province is a subtropical estuary with highly irregular topography and dynamically complicated circulations. A nested-grid coastal circulation modelling system is used in this study to examine dynamic responses of the PRE to tides, meteorological forcing and buoyancy forcing. The nested-grid modelling system is based on the Princeton Ocean Model and consists of three downscaling subcomponents: including an outer-most model with a coarse horizontal resolution of ~7 km for simulating tidally forced and wind-driven surface elevations and depth-mean currents over the China Seas from Bohai Sea to the northern South China Sea and an innermost model with a fine resolution of ~1.2 km for simulating the 3D coastal circulation and hydrography over the PRE and adjacent coastal waters. Model results during the winter northeast monsoon surge in January and super typhoon Koryn in June of 1993 are used to demonstrate that the 3D coastal circulation and hydrographic distributions in the PRE are affected by tides, winds and buoyancy forcing associated with river discharge from the Pearl River with significant seasonal and synoptic variabilities.