Abstract
Abstract. Fram Strait, the deepest gateway to the Arctic Ocean, is strongly influenced by eddy dynamics. Here we analyse the output from two eddy-resolving models (ROMS – Regional Ocean Modeling System; FESOM – Finite-Element Sea-ice Ocean Model) with around 1 km mesh resolution in Fram Strait, with a focus on their representation of eddy properties and dynamics. A comparison with mooring observations shows that both models reasonably simulate hydrography and eddy kinetic energy. Despite differences in model formulation, they show relatively similar eddy properties. The eddies have a mean radius of 4.9 and 5.6 km in ROMS and FESOM, respectively, with slightly more cyclones (ROMS: 54 %, FESOM: 55 %) than anticyclones. The mean lifetime of detected eddies is relatively short in both simulations (ROMS: 10 d, FESOM: 11 d), and the mean travel distance is 35 km in both models. More anticyclones are trapped in deep depressions or move toward deep locations. The two models show comparable spatial patterns of baroclinic and barotropic instability. ROMS has relatively stronger eddy intensity and baroclinic instability, possibly due to its smaller grid size, while FESOM has stronger eddy kinetic energy in the West Spitsbergen Current. Overall, the relatively good agreement between the two models strengthens our confidence in their ability to realistically represent the Fram Strait ocean dynamics and also highlights the need for very high mesh resolution.
Highlights
Fram Strait, located between Svalbard and Greenland (Fig. 1), is the deepest gateway that connects the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic via the Nordic Seas
An increase in Atlantic Water (AW) temperature has been observed in Fram Strait, with implications for the Arctic Ocean’s sea ice decline (Beszczynska-Möller et al, 2012; Polyakov et al, 2012)
By comparing with the local Rossby radius of deformation, this configuration can be considered eddy-resolving. It is forced with atmospheric reanalysis data from COREv.2 (Large and Yeager, 2008), and river runoff is taken from the interannual monthly dataset provided by Dai et al (2009)
Summary
Fram Strait, located between Svalbard and Greenland (Fig. 1), is the deepest gateway that connects the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic via the Nordic Seas. Atlantic Water (AW) carried northward by the West Spitsbergen Current Some AW recirculates in Fram Strait and continues southward in the East Greenland Current Cold and fresh Polar Water (PW) carried southward by the EGC is injected into the cyclonic Greenland Sea Gyre, impacting convection there (Rudels, 1995) and the overflow across the Greenland–Scotland Ridge
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