P.I. will collaborate with W. Sturges of Florida State Univ., and J.D. Thompson of the Naval Oceanographic Research and Development Activity (NORDA) to model time-dependent response of the Gulf of Mexico to forcing by winds and Loop Current Rings, and the compare model output with existing data from the western Gulf and the Yucatan straits. the primary objective is to determine whether there is an identifiable western boundary current (WBC) in the Gulf, and define and resolve the effects of the two forcing mechanisms. Two different numerical models will be used to model different aspects of the circulation for comparison with observations.
