A Modeling Study of the San Francisco Bay and Delta Ecosystem in High and Low River Flow Years

Qianqian Liu1, Shivanesh A Rao1, Fei Chai1, Richard C Dugdale2, Frances Wilkerson2, Yi Chao3 and Hongchun Zhang4, (1)University of Maine, School of Marine Sciences, Orono, ME, United States, (2)San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, United States, (3)Remote Sensing Solutions, Inc., Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)University of California Los Angeles, la crescenta, CA, United States
Abstract:
A coupled physical-biogeochemical model is used to study the nutrient and biomass cycles in the San Francisco Bay and Delta Ecosystem (SFE). With high population density, SFE has important interplay with human population and economics. To assist the ecosystem-based management and ecological risk assessment for the California fisheries and water management, we study the nutrient and biomass cycles in the San Francisco Bay by coupling the Carbon, Silicate, and Nitrogen Ecosystem (CoSiNE) model with an unstructured grid, Semi-Implicit Cross-scale Hydroscience Integrated System Model (SCHISM). The model is constrained by USGS water quality observation for the Sacramento, San Joaquin, Napa rivers and the Coyote Creek sewage plant discharge, and tested successfully by the comparisons with USGS water quality observations. This study examines the bay’s response to river forcing by simulating two contrasting years, 2011 (a high river flow year) and 2012 (a low river flow year). In addition, an 11-year simulation from 2004 to 2015 is conducted to investigate the long-term cycle of the bay nutrients and biomass.
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