Numerical modelling of phytoplankton biomass in coastal waters

DHI Water and Environment's 3D modelling tool MIKE 3, which is a dynamical ecological model, has been applied to the Danish marine waters covering the Baltic sea through the inner Danish straits and extended to the North Sea. MIKE 3 is a commercially available software system that has been used in a wide variety of applications concerning 3D studies of hydrodynamics in the marine environment. MIKE 3 is an operational system with quick, less expensive and easily accessible assessments of the state and development in phytoplankton with appropriate scaling of resolutions. The paper concludes that a combination of traditional monitoring with ship, dynamical modelling of hydrodynamics and eutrophication in combination with remote sensing of chl-a concentrations of surface waters offers the ideal tools to enhance the temporal and spatial description of large water bodies. The results presented cover the period January to September 1999. The 3D model is verified and calibrated using in situ measurements from various monitoring stations in the Danish marine waters and validated against satellite images from SeaWiFS. The data basis for this study has been two national programmes both related to the monitoring of the coastal environment.