Eddy-Resolving Numerical Models of Large-Scale Ocean Circulation

Abstract

During the decade of the 1970’s, in association with large field programs (Mode, Polymode, Isos, Norpax), fine resolution (grid size < 100 km) numerical models of ocean circulation were developed to examine the role of mesoscale eddies in the oceanic general circulation. These models have sought to develop an understanding of dynamics of flow in closed, wind-driven (and in some cases thermally driven) ocean basins, a flow in turbulent equilibrium. The eddy fields in these studies, maintained by instabilities in the currents of the large-scale ocean gyres, radiate energy to distant regions of the basin, interact actively with the mean flow, and ultimately dissipate much of the energy input by wind and heating in bottom or lateral friction.