Tidal influence on the Fraser River plume
department or school: Science, Faculty of
department or school: Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Li, Shumin
issued: 2022-04-14T22:51:34Z
issued: 2022
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: The Fraser River plume in the Strait of Georgia, BC, is significantly influenced by the tide. Here we use 17 years of daily MODIS observations of suspended particulate matter to understand the tidal variability of the plume. Our results show a consistent negative correlation between the Fraser River plume area and the tidal elevation with a phase lag at about one hour from two independent methods. The plume area routinely increases/decreases by about 20% during the ebb/flood tides, and a lower river flowrate typically leads to a more dramatic tidal variation in the plume area. A tidal harmonic analysis is performed on the HF-radar derived surface currents, and the difference between the extents of diurnally and semi-diurnally driven river influence suggests two distinct dynamical regions in the horizontal plume structure. A simple analytical model based on the volume conservation and salinity balance equations is built to analyze the mechanism of the tidal variability in the plume size. The observed tidal patterns of the plume area variation are partly reproduced using tidally modulated plume salinity (observed from instrumented ferries) and river flowrate (from numerical model outputs). These new findings will improve our understanding of the short-term dynamics of the Fraser River plume.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/81216
note: Tidal Influence on the Fraser RiverPlumebyShumin LiB.Sc., Xiamen University, 2019A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFTHE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OFMASTER OF SCIENCEinThe Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctral Studies(Oceanography)THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA(Vancouver)April 2022© Shumin Li 2022The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty ofGraduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesis entitled:Tidal Influence on the Fraser River Plumesubmitted by Shumin Li in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masterof Science in Oceanography.Examining Committee:Rich Pawlowicz, Professor, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, UBCSupervisorSusan Allen, Professor, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, UBCSupervisory Committee MemberPhil Austin, Associate Professor, Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, UBCAdditional ExamineriiAbstractThe Fraser River plume in the Strait of Georgia, BC, is significantly influenced by the tide.Here we use 17 years of daily MODIS observations of suspended particulate matter tounderstand the tidal variability of the plume. Our results show a consistent negative corre-lation between the Fraser River plume area and the tidal elevation with a phase lag at aboutone hour from two independent methods. The plume area routinely increases/decreasesby about 20% during the ebb/flood tides, and a lower river flowrate typically leads to amore dramatic tidal variation in the plume area. A tidal harmonic analysis is performed onthe HF-radar derived surface currents, and the difference between the extents of diurnallyand semi-diurnally driven river influence suggests two distinct dynamical regions in thehorizontal plume structure. A simple analytical model based on the volume conservationand salinity balance equations is built to analyze the mechanism of the tidal variabilityin the plume size. The observed tidal patterns of the plume area variation are partlyreproduced using ti…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2022-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0412870
language: eng
degree discipline: Oceanography
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Pawlowicz, Rich
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/81216