Hydrodynamic modeling of the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, 2013

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Frequently anticipated questions:

What does this data set describe?

Title:
Hydrodynamic modeling of the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, 2013
Abstract:
A process-based numerical model of the mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) and estuary, Oregon and Washington, was applied to simulate hydrodynamic conditions for the time period of the Office of Naval Research-funded River and Inlets Dynamics (RIVET II) field experiment conducted between May 9 and June 15, 2013. The model application was constructed using Delft3D, an open-source software package used to solve the unsteady shallow water equations to simulate water motion due to tides, waves, wind, and buoyancy effects. This portion of the USGS data release describes the model application for this experiment and presents input files necessary to run the Delft3D model, as well as selected output from the model simulation.
Supplemental_Information:
Information about the data collection field activities can be found at: https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/fan_info.php?fan=S0313WO
  1. How might this data set be cited?
    Stevens, Andrew W., Gelfenbaum, Guy, MacMahan, Jamie, Reniers, Ad J.H.M., Elias, Edwin P., Sherwood, Christopher R., and Carlson, Emily M., 2017, Hydrodynamic modeling of the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, 2013: data release DOI:10.5066/F7NG4NS1, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, California.

    Online Links:

    This is part of the following larger work.

    Stevens, Andrew W., Gelfenbaum, Guy, MacMahan, Jamie, Reniers, Ad J.H.M., Elias, Edwin P., Sherwood, Christopher R., and Carlson, Emily M., 2017, Oceanographic measurements and hydrodynamic modeling of the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon and Washington, 2013: data release DOI:10.5066/F7NG4NS1, U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

  2. What geographic area does the data set cover?
    West_Bounding_Coordinate: -126.167549
    East_Bounding_Coordinate: -123.183540
    North_Bounding_Coordinate: 47.734695
    South_Bounding_Coordinate: 45.345337
  3. What does it look like?
    https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/59079594e4b0fc4e448eb013?name=mcr13_hydromodel_grid.png&allowOpen=true (PNG)
    Map showing locations of survey transects
    https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/59079594e4b0fc4e448eb013?name=mcr13_hydromodel_bathy.png&allowOpen=true (PNG)
    Image showing water column backscatter data from one of the transects surveyed at three different stages of the tide cycle
  4. Does the data set describe conditions during a particular time period?
    Beginning_Date: 09-May-2013
    Ending_Date: 15-Jun-2013
    Currentness_Reference:
    ground condition at time data were collected
  5. What is the general form of this data set?
    Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: NetCDF files
  6. How does the data set represent geographic features?
    1. How are geographic features stored in the data set?
      This is a Raster data set. It contains the following raster data types:
      • Dimensions 205 x 337 x 10, type Grid Cell
    2. What coordinate system is used to represent geographic features?
      Grid_Coordinate_System_Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
      Universal_Transverse_Mercator:
      UTM_Zone_Number: 10
      Transverse_Mercator:
      Scale_Factor_at_Central_Meridian: 0.9996
      Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -123.0
      Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 0.0
      False_Easting: 500000.0
      False_Northing: 0.0
      Planar coordinates are encoded using row and column
      Abscissae (x-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 78
      Ordinates (y-coordinates) are specified to the nearest 38
      Planar coordinates are specified in Meter
      The horizontal datum used is D_North_American_1983.
      The ellipsoid used is GRS_1980.
      The semi-major axis of the ellipsoid used is 6378137.0.
      The flattening of the ellipsoid used is 1/298.257222101.
      Vertical_Coordinate_System_Definition:
      Altitude_System_Definition:
      Altitude_Datum_Name: North American Vertical Datum of 1988
      Altitude_Resolution: 0.001
      Altitude_Distance_Units: meters
      Altitude_Encoding_Method:
      Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
  7. How does the data set describe geographic features?
    Entity_and_Attribute_Overview:
    NetCDF files are self-contained and attribute information may be found in the header of the file itself.
    Entity_and_Attribute_Detail_Citation:
    The entity and attribute information was generated by the individual and/or agency identified as the originator of the data set. Please review the rest of the metadata record for additional details and information.

Who produced the data set?

  1. Who are the originators of the data set? (may include formal authors, digital compilers, and editors)
    • Andrew W. Stevens
    • Guy Gelfenbaum
    • Jamie MacMahan
    • Ad J.H.M. Reniers
    • Edwin P. Elias
    • Christopher R. Sherwood
    • Emily M. Carlson
  2. Who also contributed to the data set?
  3. To whom should users address questions about the data?
    Andrew W. Stevens
    U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
    Oceanographer
    2885 Mission Street
    Santa Cruz, CA
    USA

    831-460-7424 (voice)
    831-427-4748 (FAX)
    astevens@usgs.gov

Why was the data set created?

The hydrodynamic model was developed as a part of a larger investigation into hydrodynamics in the mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon and Washington.

How was the data set created?

  1. From what previous works were the data drawn?
  2. How were the data generated, processed, and modified?
    Date: 24-May-2016 (process 1 of 6)
    A hydrodynamic model of the mouth of the Columbia River (MCR) was constructed using Delft3D, an open-source software package used to solve the unsteady shallow water equations to simulate water motion due to tides, waves, wind, and buoyancy effects (Lesser and others, 2004). The model application for this study was adapted from Elias and others (2012) who provide a detailed description of the model formulations and setup. Changes were applied to the existing model grid and boundary conditions, as described below, to simulate hydrodynamics in quasi-real time for the time period of the RIVET II field experiment between May 9 and June 15, 2013. A curvilinear grid consisting of approximately 68,500 grid cells was used to simulate hydrodynamics throughout the MCR and adjacent coast and estuary. Ten equally spaced vertical sigma layers were used to simulate 3D effects within the model domain. The grid was aligned with coastal engineering structures including the 3 primary jetties as well as several training dikes in the vicinity of the MCR. Flow through the structures was limited in the model using thin dams (no transmission). The spatial extent of the grid was expanded in the ocean, extending roughly 150 and 100 km north and south of the MCR, respectively.
    Date: 25-May-2016 (process 2 of 6)
    The model bathymetry was derived from recent datasets including the swath bathymetry collected as part of this study (Gelfenbaum and others, 2015). Additional bathymetric data used in the model setup included swath bathymetry collected by NOAA between 2007 and 2009 (online data available at https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/bathymetry/) and unpublished single-beam bathymetry collected in 2004 and 2012 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. A previously published DEM of the lower river (http://www.estuarypartnership.org/lower-columbia-digital-terrain-model) was used for the tidal river between the Astoria Bridge and upstream boundary. A regional digital terrain model (Love and others, 2012) was used in areas where more-recent datasets were not available. The source bathymetry data were converted to a common horizontal datum (NAD83, CORS96) and the land-based North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD88), projected in the Cartesian UTM Zone, 10, meters coordinate system, and interpolated onto the computational domain of the model. Deep areas associated with the Astoria submarine canyon were removed from the model bathymetry to improve stability along the oceanic boundaries.
    Date: 26-May-2016 (process 3 of 6)
    Oceanic boundaries of the MCR model were forced using astronomic tidal constituents initially derived from the TPXO 7.2 global tide model (Egbert and Erofeeva, 2002) and adjusted during calibration. An initial vertical offset of 1.15 m (positive up) derived from NOAA VDatum (version 3.2; http://vdatum.noaa.gov/) was applied at the oceanic boundary to account for the difference between local mean sea level and NAVD88. Water levels in the MCR and estuary are influenced by coastal processes such as regional upwelling and downwelling events that induce variations at subtidal frequencies (MacMahan, 2016). Oceanic subtidal variations were imposed as at the oceanic open boundary as a time-varying correction to the astronomic tides. The subtidal time-series was derived from observations of water levels at NOAA stations 9440910 (Toke Point, WA) and 9437540 (Garibaldi, OR). Water level time-series from the two stations were obtained for 2013 and a low-pass filter was applied to remove fluctuations at tidal frequencies. The low pass filtered values from both stations were highly correlated and an average for the two stations was applied to the oceanic model boundaries. The landward boundary was forced with a time-series of river discharge measured at 30 min intervals at the USGS river gauge 14246900 (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/uv?site_no=14246900) located at the Beaver Army Terminal near Quincy, Oregon.
    Date: 29-Jun-2016 (process 4 of 6)
    Water level dynamics in the MCR and estuary are controlled by various processes including tides, river discharge, atmospheric forcing, and to a lesser degree hydropower operations (Jay and others, 2015). Analysis of long-term records collected in the study area (Jay and others, 2015) suggest that tides dominate lower estuary, accounting for 60-70 percent of the total water level variance. Therefore, accurate modeling of tidal propagation is essential to simulate hydrodynamics in the MCR. Tidal propagation into inlets like the Columbia River is modified by bed friction, topographic funneling, and opposing river flow. While river flow and topographic variability are well represented in the model by recent high-resolution inputs, bottom roughness is poorly constrained. Previous modeling studies of the MCR and estuary found that tidal propagation is sensitive to bed roughness (Elias and others, 2012). Tidal propagation in the estuary was calibrated using the Manning roughness coefficient as the primary calibration parameter. Simulated water levels were compared against time-series measurements of observed water levels from 4 locations throughout the study area for the time period spanning the RIVET II experiment simulations (May 9, 2013 to June 15, 2013). The sensitivity of tidal propagation to bottom roughness was examined for a range of Manning roughness coefficients between 0.0202 and 0.0260 in a series of 6 otherwise identical simulations. A Manning roughness coefficient of 0.0218 best-represented mean water levels and variance throughout the domain. Additional adjustments to the oceanic boundary conditions were applied to the model using this roughness coefficient. First, the mean water surface elevation applied at the oceanic boundary, or so-called A0 astronomic constituent, was adjusted to account for the offset between mean sea level and the model bathymetry datum, NAVD88. The original A0 estimated from VDatum was adjusted to match water level observations at Astoria. Next, harmonic tidal analysis was performed (Pawlowicz and others, 2002) on the simulated and observed water levels over the analysis time frame. Tidal constituents applied at the boundary were corrected using measurements obtained at Astoria. The final calibrated model accurately simulated water levels at each of the 4 observation stations with total RMSE less than 10 cm.
    Date: 03-May-2017 (process 5 of 6)
    Data were accumulated into NetCDF files.
    Date: 19-Oct-2020 (process 6 of 6)
    Edited metadata to add keywords section with USGS persistent identifier as theme keyword. No data were changed. Person who carried out this activity:
    U.S. Geological Survey
    Attn: VeeAnn A. Cross
    Marine Geologist
    384 Woods Hole Road
    Woods Hole, MA

    508-548-8700 x2251 (voice)
    508-457-2310 (FAX)
    vatnipp@usgs.gov
  3. What similar or related data should the user be aware of?
    Egbert, G.D., and Erofeeva, S.Y., 2002, Efficient inverse modeling of barotropic ocean tides: Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, v. 19, p. 183-204, American Meteorological Society, Boston MA.

    Online Links:

    Elias, E.P.L,, Gelfenbaum, G., and Van der Westhuysen, A.J., 2012, Validation of a coupled wave-flow model in a high-energy setting; The mouth of the Columbia River: Journal of Geophysical Research--Oceans, v. 117, p. 2156-2202, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.

    Online Links:

    Gelfenbaum, G., Finlayson, D.P., Dartnell, P., Carlson, E., and Stevens, A.W., 2015, Bathymetry and backscatter from 2013 interferometric swath bathymetry systems survey of Columbia River Mouth, Oregon and Washington: U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center, Santa Cruz, CA.

    Online Links:

    Love, M.R., Friday, D.Z., Grothe, P.R., Carignan, K.S., Eakins, B.W., and Taylor, L.A., 2012, Digital elevation model of Astoria, Oregon; Procedures, data sources and analysis: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Center for Environmental Information, Asheville, NC.

    Online Links:

    Jay, D.A., Leffler, K.L., Diefenderfer, H.L., and Borde, A.B., 2015, Tidal-fluvial and estuarine processes in the lower Columbia River; I. Along-channel water level variation, Pacific Ocean to Bonneville Dam: Estuaries and Coasts, v. 38, p. 415-433, Estuarine and Coastal Research Federation, Seattle, WA.

    Online Links:

    Lesser, G.R., Roelvink, D.J.A., van Kester, J.A.T.M., and Stelling, G.S., 2004, Development and validation of a three-dimensional morphological model: Coastal Engineering, v. 51, p. 883-915, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

    Online Links:

    MacMahan, J., 2016, Observations of oceanic-forced subtidal elevations in a convergent estuary: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, v. 181, p. 319-324, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

    Online Links:

    Pawlowicz, R., Beardsley, B., and Lentz, S., 2002, Classical tidal harmonic analysis including error estimates in MATLAB using T_TIDE: Computers and Geosciences, v. 28, p. 929-937, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Netherlands.

    Online Links:

How reliable are the data; what problems remain in the data set?

  1. How well have the observations been checked?
    Simulated water levels were compared against time-series measurements of observed water levels from 4 locations throughout the study area between May 9 and June 15, 2013. The final calibrated model accurately simulated water levels at each of the 4 observation stations with total RMSE less than 10 cm. Formal tests of attribute accuracy for other simulated variables were not performed.
  2. How accurate are the geographic locations?
    A formal accuracy assessment of the horizontal positional information in the data set has either not been conducted, or is not applicable.
  3. How accurate are the heights or depths?
    A formal accuracy assessment of the vertical positional information in the data set has either not been conducted, or is not applicable.
  4. Where are the gaps in the data? What is missing?
    Dataset is considered complete for the information presented, as described in the abstract. Users are advised to read the metadata for each part of this data release carefully for additional details.
  5. How consistent are the relationships among the observations, including topology?
    Data fall within expected ranges.

How can someone get a copy of the data set?

Are there legal restrictions on access or use of the data?
Access_Constraints: none
Use_Constraints:
USGS-authored or produced data and information are in the public domain from the U.S. Government and are freely redistributable with proper metadata and source attribution. Please recognize and acknowledge the U.S. Geological Survey as the originator(s) of the dataset and in products derived from these data.
  1. Who distributes the data set? (Distributor 1 of 1)
    U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
    Denver Federal Center, Building 810, Mail Stop 302
    Denver, CO
    USA

    1-888-275-8747 (voice)
    sciencebase@usgs.gov
  2. What's the catalog number I need to order this data set? Model input files compatible with windows executable of Delft3D 4.01 (flow version 6.01.07.3574) are provided in the zip archive "mcr13_hydromodel_input.zip". Digital data files containing selected model output are provided in NetCDF format. Time-series model output are provided in a single NetCDF file, "mcr13_hydromodel_ts.nc". Gridded model output in NetCDF files are provided in 6 separate files--each file representing 7 days of model output to reduce the size of individual files (e.g. mcr13_d3d_hydromodel_gXXXX.nc, where XXXX represents MMDD of the first day of the model run).
  3. What legal disclaimers am I supposed to read?
    Unless otherwise stated, all data, metadata and related materials are considered to satisfy the quality standards relative to the purpose for which the data were collected. Although these data and associated metadata have been reviewed for accuracy and completeness and approved for release by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty.
  4. How can I download or order the data?

Who wrote the metadata?

Dates:
Last modified: 19-Oct-2020
Metadata author:
Andrew W. Stevens
U.S. Geological Survey, Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center
Oceanographer
2885 Mission Street
Santa Cruz, CA
USA

831-460-7424 (voice)
831-427-4748 (FAX)
astevens@usgs.gov
Metadata standard:
Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata (FGDC-STD-001-1998)
This page is <https://cmgds.marine.usgs.gov/catalog/pcmsc/DataReleases/ScienceBase/DR_F7NG4NS1/mcr13_hydromodel_metadata.faq.html>
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