The Impact of Nearshore Eddies on the Design of Marine Environmental Monitoring Sites

Design of the in-situ observational sites depends on topography and hydrodynamic characteristics in the observational region, which is significantly important in marine environmental monitoring and evaluation. The tidal motion in Jiaozhou Bay and Aoshan Bay is simulated in this study using the unstructured grid, finite-volume coastal ocean model (FVCOM). With an accurate geometric representation of irregular coastlines and islands and sufficiently high horizontal resolution in narrow channels, FVCOM provides an accurate simulation of the tidal current in the bays and also resolves the strong tidal flushing processes in the narrow channels. There exist many small-scale eddies due to the interaction of tidal flushing and complex coastlines. Small-scale eddies formation will cause inhomogeneous distribution of the marine environmental element, then affects design of the in-situ observational sites. We proposed that design of the in-situ observational sites should consider nearshore eddies in order to conform to reality and enhance environmental protection.