Although the towers network constitutes unprecedented spatial coverage over the shelf, it cannot fully resolve the structure of the processes operative on the shelf, nor can any observational program. Numerical modeling is becoming an increasingly important tool in reconstructing oceanographic conditions and forecasting future conditions. One of the greatest difficulties in implementing a numerical simulation of a coastal region, however, is specifying conditions along the open boundary of the domain, where one seldom has real observations. Continuous measurements at the offshore network can help alleviate this difficulty. Models will be forced with observed elevation, winds, and current and hydrogrphic data to provide fully 3-D flow fields (current, turbulence and hydrographic structure) within the defined study site; resulting in a nowcast of physical conditions on the shelf. Modeling will be conducted at UNC by F.Werner (http://www.marine.unc.edu)