QUANTIFYING VOLUME TRANSPORTS DURING SKAGEX WITH THE NORWEGIAN ECOLOGICAL MODEL SYSTEM

A coupled 3-dimensional physical, chemical and biological model system , NORWECOM (the NORWegian ECOlogical Model system), is validated and u sed to identify and quantify the short-term variability of the differe nt water masses being transported into and our of Skagerrak. The model system is a nesting between a coarse grid model set up for an extende d North Sea, and a fine grid defined in the Skagerrak/Kattegat area. O riginating from the extensive SKAGEX (SKAGerrak EXperiment) database, several interesting events have been identified and become the focus o f the modeling. Through interactive use of the SKAGEX data set and NOR WECOM, it is possible to gain a new insight into a very complex hydrod ynamic system, an insight that is hard to achieve based on measurement s only. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.