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GLERL 2007 Milestone Reports
< GLERL 2007 Milestone main page
GOAL 1: Ecosystem
Scientist: Dave Schwab (GLERL)
NOAA Program: Ecosystem Research
OAR Performance Measure: Annual number of coastal, marine, and Great Lakes issue-based forecast capabilities developed and used for management.
NOAA Performance Objective: Access, model and forecast ecosystem resources for management decisions.
Ecosystem Research Program Performance Measure: Develop Forecasts to Predict Ecological (and Socioeconomic) Impacts
Milestone: Complete nearshore hydrodynamics field experiment at Grand Haven Michigan for development of a nearshore circulation model
Purpose: The purpose is to develop and test (through carefully designed field experiments) techniques for simulating and forecasting the impact of point source pollutants on near shore water quality in the Great Lakes.
Efforts and Results (to date): In order to develop tools to accurately predict potential human health threats to coastal waters, researchers from NOAA – GLERL, Michigan State University, University Wisconsin -Milwaukee, Central Michigan University and Georgia Tech are creating predictive models of near-shore transport and using in-situ measurements to help test the validity of the numerical models. Real-time hydrodynamic models for Lake Michigan, which simulate nearshore water currents, have been developed for the beach areas around Grand Haven, Michigan as well as for a 20 kilometer section of the Indiana shoreline that is home to a national lakeshore and five recreational beaches. In addition, we are collaborating with Hector Bravo at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to develop a similar system for the Milwaukee area.
Figure 1. 1. Locations of nested grid hydrodynamic models in southern Lake Michigan
The Grand Haven and Indiana Dunes nowcasts provide information on surface water currents, surface water temperatures, and the expected trajectory of the river plume. The nowcasts are updated four times daily. The web sites (www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/bd/ and www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/gh/) provide graphical representations of model output as well as time series plots of river plume impact at various beaches in each area.
Figure 2. Aerial photograph of Grand River plume on July 18, 2007 (left) and computer simulation from Lake Michigan Nowcast system (right). GLERL research vessels are visible in the river and just northeast of the river mouth.
Customer(s): Real-time nearshore hydrodynamic prediction model to provide forecasts of nearshore transport for beach managers and users. Data base of nearshore measurements will be made available to OHHI and other interested researchers.
Cause Factors (if milestone not met): N/A
Revised Completion Date (if milestone not met): N/A
Last updated: 2007-10-17 mbl