San Diego Bay is a relatively simple hydrodynamic body and provides a suitable testbed for model development, particularly in the areas of sediment and contaminant transport. The San Diego Bay risk assessment effort has widespread application to a broad range of problems in the bay and other similar habitats. Oil Spill Computer Model Simulation at Ballast Pt. Water current vectors are shown with white at tip. 3D color-mapped bathymetry displaced 20x in z axis.
Project is for facilities response plan.
We are pursuing the modeling effort sequentially. We have applied two complex hydrodynamic models to San Diego Bay, and are in the validation process using extensive field data sets. An effort to model the sources and transport of suspended sediment driven by the existing hydrodynamic model outputs is also in progress. Finally, we will examine contaminant partitioning and toxicological effects. As we further our field databases and validate and test the models, our plan is to make them available to other agencies and municipalities.