Ebb And Flow: What We Learn From Visible Circulation Patterns in the Salish

Abstract

We present here a set of visualizations of particle motion in the turbulent and complex environment of Puget Sound. We are interested in superposition of flow patterns particularly related to nutrient flux including: Estuarine input, exchange with the continental shelf and deep ocean through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, tidal circulation and other components of ocean dynamics. We begin with a computational fluid dynamics model and choose initial conditions (particle locations) based on motivating questions: Where does the water go that has been measured by instruments emplaced at NANOOS moorings? Where does fresh water from the Skagit River go, in relation to river stage? How does deep ocean water make its way into the Strait of Juan de Fuca? Does the prevalent Puget Sound circulation pattern resemble a conveyor belt? What is the half-life of the water in Hood Canal? The visualization is generated using the Layerscape research toolkit provided by Microsoft Research. Layerscape combines the Worldwide Telescope visualization engine (large data and time capacity) with a supportive \u27learn/collaborate\u27 website (http://layerscape.org) and data manipulation and ingest tools and software