This report is presented to the Division of Science and Research of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in fulfillment of Contract No. 48-106-000-015, Hydrographic Study of Barnegat Bay.

This report consists of data sets gathered in Barnegat Bay that portray the spatial and temporal variations of the specific characteristics of the Bay, including current flows, salinities, temperatures, and water elevations. These are original data sets whose purpose is to lead to the development of a numerical circulation model of the Bay.

This report also reviews estuarine circulation models which can be appropriate to Barnegat Bay. It recommends a class of model that is used to direct the data gathering effort so as to accumulate measurements useful to the running of the model.

Within the constraints of a budget limitation and the time available to collect field data, this report submits a large data set collected within Barnegat Bay over periods from December 1994 through July 1995. This data and their analyses are presented to yield the following:

• a. A set of field data which can be used to run, calibrate, and verify a numerical circulation model.
• b. An assessment of the circulation pattern and its impacts on tansport of pollutants based on the field data collected.
• c. A recommendation of a numerical model for detailed hydrographic study of Barnegat Bay.