Webinar | A High-resolution Ocean Reanalysis of the Northwest Atlantic

Join SECOORA for a webinar on Tuesday June 21 at noon ET presented by Dr. Ruoying He, North Carolina University.

The webinar will focus on a 28-year, high-resolution ocean reanalysis (a method of reconstructing historical changes in the state of the ocean) that was achieved through the combination of model and observation data for the northwestern Atlantic. The reanalysis provides a realistic dynamic physical framework enabling access to data for climate change and other studies to inform coastal management decision-making processes.

Abstract

This study presents a 28-year (1993-2020), high-resolution (4-km) ocean reanalysis that estimates historical changes in the northwestern Atlantic that covers from the eastern edge of Nova Scotia to the north coast of Venezuela, including the Gulf of Maine, Middle Atlantic Bight, South Atlantic Bight, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and western Sargasso Sea.

Through combination of the Regional Ocean Modeling System with ensemble data assimilation of satellite and in-situ observations the regional ocean circulation states are represented. These circulation states are characterized by energetic western boundary currents, mesoscale eddies, and strong freshwater input resulting in highly complex spatial-temporal variability.

The accuracy of ocean reanalysis is systematically evaluated with innovation errors utilizing available observations.

The resulting four-dimensional climatological atlas of water mass properties and ocean currents, representing a 28-year synthesis between model and observations, are then presented.

The study also includes extremal analysis techniques to estimate sea level changes, the extreme values of near surface and near-bottom currents, surface and bottom ocean temperature.

This reanalysis provides a realistic physical and dynamic framework to support climate change studies, inform varied decision-making processes, including those for coastal resilience, navigation, marine renewable energy, water quality, pollution transport, and living resource management.

Meet the Presenter

Dr. Ruoying He is a Goodnight Innovation Distinguished Professor in the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences at North Carolina State University. His research expertise spans from coastal circulation dynamics and air-sea interaction to biophysical interactions. As the director of the Ocean Observing and Modeling Group, he conducts coastal ocean observations, remote sensing data analyses, and leads the development of prediction models of ocean circulation, air-sea-wave interactions, physical-biogeochemical couplings, as well as data assimilation.  Dr. He is an Editor for AMS Journal of AI for the Earth Systems, and served as an Associated Editor for AGU Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans. He is presently also a member of NSF Ocean Observatories Initiative Facility Board.