On this episode of Ocean Gazing, Huijie Xue, a professor at the University of Maine, discusses how she makes ocean forecasts for the Gulf of Maine. Xue adds, “Definitely for us, it’s a fascinating playground.”
[audio:https://coseenow.net/podcast//2009/04/og06.mp3]Top models
Slideshow
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Xue fuels her model with temperature, salinity and current information that she can find online. Credit: Jim Campbell.
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Huijie Xue smiles when her virtual ocean model matches what the real ocean is doing. Credit: Jim Campbell.
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When modeling the Gulf of Maine, Xue and her students crunch a lot of physics and math. Credit: Jim Campbell.
More Media
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4QE8BrdlO8
Gulf of Maine ocean model prepared by Huijie Xue at the University of Maine. The green/blue background is the bathymetry, the brown/purple sheet is the 32 ppt (parts per thousand) salinity isosurface, and the arrows are velocity vectors (ranging from a 5-60 centimeters per second). The animation starts showing the entire model domain including the Gulf of Maine, Georges Bank, part of the Scotian shelf and northern slope region. It then zooms in as it flies from Georges Bank and the Northeast Channel northward to the Maine coast.
Education Standards
National Science Education Standards Grade 5 to 8
National Science Education Standards Grade 9 to 12
Ocean Literacy Principles
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Top models
[…] Huijie Xue forecasts the underwater weather of the Gulf of Maine: its temperature, its salinity, and its currents. And a lot of people are tuning in. Listen to episode 6 of the Ocean Gazing podcast. […]
Thank you once again for a great story. I found the modeling lobster distributions piece interesting as well and is a great story to use while explaining to younger students how many people use models everyday.