Modelling the circulation on the continental shelf of the province Khanh Hoa in Vietnam

A model simulation of the circulation on the continental shelf of the Khanh Hoa province in central Vietnam during the year 2004 is presented. The model, a three-dimensional baroclinic z-coordinate model (the Hamburg Shelf Ocean Model), is implemented with a horizontal resolution of about 1 km. It is initialised with temperature and salinity fields taken from the Levitus data, and by the two main tidal constituents. The model is forced by daily fields of wind stress, air temperature, wind speed, and cloudiness taken from NCEP, and by monthly mean river runoff values. At the open boundary sea surface displacements are prescribed by the tidal variation and by the steric height determined from the density anomalies determined from climatological values of temperature and salinity.The modelled circulation reflects the monsoonal forcing fields, and reveals downwelling during winter and upwelling during summer. The modelled hydrography is compared with measured profiles, and some biases are found. The flushing times of three bays along the Khanh Hoa coast are calculated. The relative influence of river runoff, tides, and weather on the flushing times is discussed.