Contribution to sampling requirements for future satellite altimetry observations of the Chesapeake Bay

The Surface Water Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission aims to measure water surfaces over a wide range of targets, ranging from open ocean to inland rivers and lakes. In order to achieve this, sensor measurement requirements are being studied that can meet both terrestrial water and open ocean science needs. For oceans, the goal is to map global water surface height for the purpose of resolving ocean mesoscale and sub-mesoscale circulation. Over land, the goal is to measure changes in inland stored water and freshwater discharges from rivers. The current research focuses on an important region that lies between the land and the open ocean; that is the coastal regions, where tidal dynamics and storm surge play an important role. Specifically, we examine the example case of monitoring needs for the Chesapeake Bay. The approach is first to calibrate MIKE21, a state-of-the-art numerical hydrodynamic model, to the Chesapeake Bay, and then apply it to two cases; one representing a “clear-sky” scenario where tidal and wind forcings dominate, and a second storm-surge case represented by Hurricane Isabel during September 2003. Various statistical analyses are then conducted on the modeled output for the purpose of understanding sampling requirements.