Figure 4. Map showing the bathymetry of the South Atlantic Bight and regional physiographic features. Characterizations of bottom shear stress and sea floor mobility in this database extend offshore to approximately the 120-m isobath.

The South Atlantic Bight region extends from the coast of North Carolina southward to the Florida Keys (Fig. 4).

Spatially and temporally resolved estimates of bottom shear stress are calculated for seasonal and annual time periods. Seasons are defined as Winter (December-February), Spring (March-May), Summer (June-August), and Fall (September-November).

Specifications for stress and mobility time series:

• Spatial Resolution: Approximately 5 km.
• Time Period: May, 2010, to May, 2011.
• Temporal Resolution: Hourly.

Data sets used to compute the bottom stress and sediment mobility time series:

• Currents: The South Atlantic Bight and Gulf of Mexico Circulation Nowcast/Forecast (SABGOM) model, which uses the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). The SABGOM domain includes the coastal regions of the South Atlantic Bight and the Gulf of Mexico. These two areas have been split in order to better delineate regions based on similar physical processes and forcing; results presented here are for the South Atlantic Bight only. Developed at North Carolina State University (http://omgsrv1.meas.ncsu.edu:8080/ocean-circulation).
  Contact: Model run by Dr. Ruoying He, Ocean Observing and Modeling Group (http://omgrhe.meas.ncsu.edu/Group/).
• Waves: Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model applied to the western North Atlantic. Contact: Model run by Dr. P. Soupy Dalyander, U.S. Geological Survey St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center
• Sediment Texture Data: USGS East-Coast Sediment Texture database (Poppe and others, 2005).

Complete details on the procedure used to create the data files may be found in the associated metadata (links in Table 3).

Table 3. Statistics of sea floor wave-current stress and sediment mobility in Arc polygon and point shapefile format for the South Atlantic Bight from model output. Stress statistics are determined for the entire model grid, whereas mobility statistics are determined only at locations where sediment texture data are available. See metadata files for details of the calculations. Click on zip file to download.