Impact of the San Francisco Bay Plume on the California north central coast

WM

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Funded by NOAA California Sea Grant (CA Sea Grant) .

PI: Dr. Piero Mazzini

Period: March, 2019 to February, 2020.

Abstract:

More info: caseagrant.ucsd.edu/project/impact-of-the-san-francisco-bay-plume-in-the-california-north-central-coast-0

San Francisco Bay is the largest estuary on the US West Coast, situated in a highly urbanized region impacted by industrial, commercial, and agricultural wastes. As water exits the bay it forms the San Francisco Bay Plume (SFBP): a layer of low-salinity water that advances over the denser seawater. SFBP spreads into the Gulf of the Farallones, bringing with it an immense amount of nutrients that influence one of the most productive regions in the California Current System.

Understanding how water from the San Francisco Bay —and the nutrients and pollutants it contains—reaches the coastal ocean is necessary for the proper management of this region, which includes extremely ecologically relevant areas, such as the Greater Farallones, Cordell Bank, and Monterey National Marine Sanctuaries.

In this project, researchers plan to create a model, known as a synthetic surface salinity tool, combining salinity observations and ocean color data from satellites. Using this model, they will investigate the seasonal and interannual variability of the SFBP, and analyze the statistical relationship to mechanisms that influence the plume dynamics such as river discharge, winds, and interannual climate oscillations. Results from this project will allow for the first time, the characterization of the extension, time and spatial variability, and the reach of influence of the SFBP.

Preliminary Results presented at:

  • ”Can we detect spring-neap variability of San Francisco Bay Plume from space?”. Cassia Pianca and Piero Mazzini. In: 66TH ANNUAL EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN CONFERENCE - EPOC 2019 .

  • ”Space-time variability of San Francisco Bay Plume from MODIS imagery”. Piero Mazzini and Cassia Pianca. In: 66TH ANNUAL EASTERN PACIFIC OCEAN CONFERENCE - EPOC 2019.

  • ”Interannual variability of the San Francisco Bay Plume surface expression”. Piero Mazzini and Cassia Pianca. In: OCEANOBS 2019.

  • ”Observing Fortnightly Variability of San Francisco Bay Turbid Plume from MODIS Imagery”. Cassia Pianca and Piero Mazzini. In: OCEAN SCIENCES 2020.

  • ”Seasonal to interannual variability of San Francisco Bay Plume from space”. Piero Mazzini and Cassia Pianca. In: OCEAN SCIENCES 2020.