Evaluation of the SELFE/ELCIRC Models in the Delaware Bay Model Evaluation Environment

As part of the Delaware Bay Model Evaluation Environment (MEE), the Eulerian-Lagrangian Circulation Model (ELCIRC) and Semi-implicit Eulerian-Lagrangian Finite Element Model (SELFE) were evaluated in reproducing tidal characteristics, baroclinic propagation of salinity/temperature, and overall hydrodynamic physical processes. The Delaware Bay MEE is designed to serve as a template from which the performance of hydrodynamic models can be examined through comparisons with an extensive array of data. This observation data was collected as part of the National Ocean Service (NOS) Delaware River and Bay Circulation Survey of 1984–1985 and includes water levels, currents, conductivity, temperature, and meteorological variables. This data provided the MEE with a framework through which the hydrodynamic models were assessed through standard NOS skill assessment criteria. Simulations for each of the model applications were divided into three phases. The first phase evaluated the model's representation of the barotropic tidal response, the second phase examined baroclinic processes and temperature/salinity movements, and the third phase looked at a full hindcast simulation from March to September 1984. The ELCIRC and SELFE model simulations were tested under a variety of conditions and paramterizations to evaluate their response in reproducing hydrodynamic processes. Friction parameterization, vertical grid resolution, turbulence closure schemes, and open boundary formulations were all evaluated in this process. Final hindcast results from the simulation of 1984 were examined through the use of standard skill assessment software developed by NOS.