Abstract:

A biogeochemical model based on NEMURO (North Pacific Ecosystem Model for Understanding Regional Oceanography) was extensively adapted for the Gulf of Mexico and run for the twenty-year period 1993-2012. The dataset contains 30-day averages for eleven biogeochemical model state variables (nitrate, ammonium, dissolved silicate, dissolved organic nitrogen, particulate organic nitrogen, particulate silicate, small phytoplankton, large phytoplankton, small zooplankton, large zooplankton, predatory zooplankton) and the diagnostic chlorophyll field. NEMURO was forced by daily-averaged three-dimensional fields of temperature, salinity, and velocity of the 1/25° HYCOM model. Biogeochemical transport was computed offline using the MITgcm modeling environment with a longer time step. This dataset supports the publication: Shropshire, T.A.; Morey, S.L.; Chassignet, E.P.; Bozec, A.; Coles, V.J.; Landry, M.R.; Swalethorp, R.; Zapfe, G.; Stukel, M.R. (2020). Quantifying spatiotemporal variability in zooplankton dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico with a physical-biogeochemical model. Biogeosciences, 17, 13, 3385-3407. doi:10.5194/bg-17-3385-2020

Suggested Citation:

Taylor A. Shropshire; Steven L. Morey; Eric P. Chassignet; Alexandra Bozec; Victoria J. Coles; Michael R. Landry; Rasmus Swalethorp; Glenn Zapfe; Michael R. Stukel. 2020. Biogeochemical model hindcast for the Gulf of Mexico (monthly-averaged, 1993-01-01 to 2012-12-31). Distributed by: GRIIDC, Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/EP0456Z1

Publications:

Shropshire, T. A., Morey, S. L., Chassignet, E. P., Bozec, A., Coles, V. J., Landry, M. R., … Stukel, M. R. (2020). Quantifying spatiotemporal variability in zooplankton dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico with a physical–biogeochemical model. Biogeosciences, 17(13), 3385–3407. doi:10.5194/bg-17-3385-2020

Purpose:

The quantification of spatiotemporal variability in zooplankton dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico and the estimation of food limitation for larval fish.

Data Parameters and Units:

TC (Time average bounds, [days since 0000-01-01]), YC (latitude, [decimal degrees N]), XC (longitude, [decimal degrees W]), Z (depth, [m]), NO (nitrate, [mmol N/m^3]), SI (silicate), [mmol Si/m^3]), SP (small phytoplankton, [mmol N/m^3]), LP (large phytoplankton, [mmol N/m^3]), SZ (small zooplankton, [mmol N/m^3]), LZ (large zooplankton, [mmol N/m^3]), PZ (predatory phytoplankton, [mmol N/m^3]), CHL (chlorophyll, [mg m3]). The phytoplankton units can be converted into biomass by multiplying by 6.625.

Methods:

The biogeochemical model is fully described in the associated publication Shropshire et al., (2019). The biogeochemical model is an adaptation of the NEMURO model with extensive modifications for its application to the Gulf of Mexico. The biogeochemical model was implemented in the MITgcm and run offline forced by the output of a previously run hydrodynamic model (HYCOM) for the period 1993-2012. All fields are 30-day averages.

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