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This manuscript presents a combined experimental and numerical study of the impact of cross-reef fluxes on coral reef lagoon dynamics. The selected field site is the Ouano Lagoon (New Caledonia Island, France) in the South Western Pacific Ocean. Measurements of wave transformation above the reef and current profiles through passages and reef openings have been carried out during a 3-month survey. Data analysis reveals the preponderant roles played by both tides and waves on the lagoon dynamics. Based on field data, a simple parameterization of cross-reef fluxes is implemented in a coastal lagoon circulation model and a satisfactory agreement is found between parameterized model and field results. The model is thus used as a numerical experimental tool in order to analyse the cross-reef flows' possible influence on a narrow lagoon dynamics. The results highlight the importance of cross-reef fluxes induced by wave breaking over the reef barrier on the whole lagoon circulation and water properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An innovative way to take the large-scale circulation influence into account in coastal primitive-equation models is explored by an inverse modelling approach. Restricted to barotropic external forcing, this work is a first step in the development of a four-dimensional variational (4DVAR) data-assimilation approach to estimate the best initial and open-boundary conditions that force a coastal model according to interior observations. This development is founded on the OPA modelling system which representation of barotropic coastal dynamics is restricted to motions of long time scales (∼ a day) due to its “rigid lid” approximation. Twin experiments are performed in an academic configuration of the Gulf of Lions (located in the northwestern Mediterranean Sea) to study the sensitivity of a remote barotropic forcing to different observational networks measuring surface currents deployed in this area. Three monitoring designs are tested for a large-scale barotropic perturbation in the hindcast mode. It is shown that the space and time distribution of observations acts on the efficiency of the 4DVAR method and then allows coarser datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]