Simulation of drifting seaweeds in East China Sea

Drifting seaweeds plays a major role in areas where they are present. We describe a computer model, JeoSim that clarifies the roles of those seaweeds in relation to their transport using particle-tracking algorithm. The Euler rule with trapezoidal approximation, used to calculate drifting paths, is implemented in JeoSim in discrete events fashion in order to simulate the path and movement of seaweeds. Pre-processing of the ocean currents is done with the Princeton Ocean circulation Model (POM). Simulated current constitutes the data that provides force and directions for the calculations of drifting paths. Along with the implementation of the particle-tracking algorithm in discrete event fashion, the originality of the JeoSim software lies in its Object Oriented architecture which makes it especially suited to perform simulation of living, cross scale systems with complex behavior. Behavior of drifting seaweeds of the Sargasso family has been implemented in JeoSim, and experimented in East China Sea following a drifting seaweed collection campaign in May 2002. Despite a relatively low resolution ocean currents data, simulated results compare well with the observed distribution.