DATA ANALYSIS PRIOR TO A CIRCULATION MODEL IN GRAN CANARIA

The use of numerical models in physical oceanography, with the aim of reproducing and predicting water movements, is a common practice, especially for coastal areas. Nevertheless, results will be accurate only if the assumptions are appropriate and include all significant characteristics of the domain under modeling. Two-dimensional models are often used for shallow-water areas, but the implicit assumptions of conservation of a characteristic vertical profile for the horizontal velocities all over the domain and negligible vertical circulation must be exhaustively checked. Here a case is presented in which two-dimensionality would have led to inaccurate results, as the analysis of the field data showed a three-layer behavior. This case concerns the eastern coast of Gran Canaria island (Canary Islands) and illustrates how mathematical models will describe the phenomena they try to represent correctly only if all assumptions are right.