Circulation and Variability over the Meso-American Barrier Reef System: Application of a Triply Nested Ocean Circulation Model

A triply nested-grid ocean circulation modeling system is used to simulate the circulation and associated seasonal variability on the Meso-American Barrier Reef System (MBRS) of the northwest Caribbean Sea. The nested-grid system consists of three subcomponents: a coarse-resolution outer model of the western Caribbean Sea (WCS); an intermediate-resolution middle model of the southern Meso-American Barrier Reef System; and a fine-resolution inner model of the Belizean shelf. The two-way nesting technique based on the smoothed semi-prognostic method developed by Sheng et al. (2005) is used to exchange information between the three subcomponents of the system. The nested-grid system is forced by 12-hourly NCEP wind and climatological monthly mean sea surface heat and freshwater fluxes and integrated for 11 years from 1990 to 2000. Model results of the last 10 years are used to calculate the monthly mean currents, temperature/salinity distributions and associated variability over the MBRS. Model results demonstrate that the circulation has significant temporal and spatial variability in the study region.