Impact of remote forcing, model resolution and bathymetry on predictions of currents on the shelf

•Impacts of remote forcing, model resolution and bathymetry on current predictions.•Remote forcing is the most critical factor in reproducing currents on the shelf.•Bathymetry is the second most critical factor in reproducing currents on the shelf.

Impacts of remote forcing, model resolution and bathymetry on current predictions at two moorings located on the shelf of the Monterey Bay area are investigated. We consider three Monterey Bay model configurations which differ in resolution and bathymetry representation, and we specify open boundary conditions for these three configurations from two larger scale models, which have different accuracy in the representation of the remote forcing (in the form of poleward propagating along the coast coastally-trapped Kelvin type waves).Comparisons of correlations between observed and model currents as well as visual comparisons show that the most critical element in reproducing currents on the shelf is accurate representation of the remote forcing. Our results also show that accurate representation of bathymetry is the second most critical factor in reproducing observed currents.