Sensitivity Analysis of Lagrangian Particle Tracking in a Hydrodynamic Model of the Mississippi Sound Using GPS-Tagged Drifters

The Mississippi Sound (MSS), located in the northern Gulf of Mexico, is a vital ecosystem supporting diverse habitats and species, as well as important economic activities. A hydrodynamic model, developed by Armandei et al. in 2021, was enhanced with a Lagrangian Particle Tracking (LPT) module to study particle trajectories and backtrack stranded dolphins. GPS-tagged drifter data provided by Cook et al. (2021) was used to perform a sensitivity analysis on the LPT model, investigating the influence of parameters like wind drag coefficient and model dimensionality. The 3D model had a large impact on the model, and the wind drag coefficient significantly affected accuracy, while increasing vertical layers had minimal impact. The study's outcomes have valuable implications for coastal management, maritime operations, and environmental monitoring. Understanding critical parameters aids in disaster response and studying cetacean stranding events. The combination of observational data and numerical modeling provides a powerful tool to enhance our understanding of the MSS's complex dynamics.