Modeling Studies
Overall, the modeling goal of a U.S. GLOBEC North Pacific program is to develop physical basin
scale models of the North Pacific that include equatorial dynamics (to capture the ENSO connection),
and to couple these with detailed regional-scale coupled biological-physical models. Specifically, we
recommend that models of four types be developed:
- A physical model of the North Pacific that has the ability to be coupled with larger scale
atmospheric models to allow hindcasting.
- A basin scale "gyre and coastal" coupled biophysical model that resolves the details of
exchange of water and organisms between the coastal shelf and deeper oceanic waters.
- Regional nearshore biophysical models. These should be capable of including coastal
transport processes and detailed biology, including food web relations and organism behavior.
- Detailed biological models, with perhaps less physical detail. An example might be
bioenergetic models of juvenile salmon, predator relations, seasonal prey switching behavior, or
nearshore food web dynamics for several different environmental scenarios.
