Global-Scale Water Masses, Meridional Circulation, and Heat Transport Simulated with a Global Isopycnal Ocean Model*

Abstract

Abstract The goal of this study is to fill the gap in equilibrium solutions of the global-scale water masses, meridional circulation, and heat transport with isopycnal ocean models. To this end, a global isopycnal ocean general circulation model is described and used in the present study. A distinguishing feature of the isopycnal model is that it is formulated in the same parameter space, boundary conditions, and model configurations except the vertical coordinates are those of the GFDL model used by Danabasoglu et al. with an isopycnal-depth diffusion parameterization of eddy-induced tracer transport. With the global isopycnal model, the author repeated Danabasoglu et al.’s coarse-resolution simulation for a direct comparison. For the same parameter values (except lateral viscosity), the isopycnal model is able to produce a larger northward heat transport in the Northern Hemisphere, and a better latitudinal dependence of heat transport in the Southern Hemisphere, than the GFDL model. The model is also ab...