Eddy-resolving Global Ocean Model Research Articles

Energy Loss from Transient Eddies due to Lee Wave Generation in the Southern Ocean

ABSTRACTObservations suggest that enhanced turbulent dissipation and mixing over rough topography are modulated by the transient eddy field through the generation and breaking of lee waves in the Southern Ocean. Idealized simulations also suggest that lee waves are important in the energy pathway from eddies to turbulence. However, the energy loss from eddies due to lee wave generation remains poorly estimated. This study quantifies the relative energy loss from the time-mean and transient eddy flow in the Southern Ocean due to lee wave generation using an eddy-resolving global ocean model and three independent topographic datasets. The authors find that the energy loss from the transient eddy flow (0.12 TW; 1 TW = 1012 W) is larger than that from the time-mean flow (0.04 TW) due to lee wave generation; lee wave generation makes a larger contribution (0.12 TW) to the energy loss from the transient eddy flow than the dissipation in turbulent bottom boundary layer (0.05 TW). This study also shows that the energy loss from the time-mean flow is regulated by the transient eddy flow, and energy loss from the transient eddy flow is sensitive to the representation of anisotropy in small-scale topography. It is implied that lee waves should be parameterized in eddy-resolving global ocean models to improve the energetics of resolved flow.

Effects of Drake Passage on a strongly eddying global ocean

The climate impact of ocean gateway openings during the Eocene-Oligocene transition is still under debate. Previous model studies employed grid resolutions at which the impact of mesoscale eddies has to be parameterized. We present results of a state-of-the-art eddy-resolving global ocean model with a closed Drake Passage and compare with results of the same model at noneddying resolution. An analysis of the pathways of heat by decomposing the meridional heat transport into eddy, horizontal, and overturning circulation components indicates that the model behavior on the large scale is qualitatively similar at both resolutions. Closing Drake Passage induces (i) sea surface warming around Antarctica due to equatorward expansion of the subpolar gyres, (ii) the collapse of the overturning circulation related to North Atlantic Deep Water formation leading to surface cooling in the North Atlantic, and (iii) significant equatorward eddy heat transport near Antarctica. However, quantitative details significantly depend on the chosen resolution. The warming around Antarctica is substantially larger for the noneddying configuration (∼5.5°C) than for the eddying configuration (∼2.5°C). This is a consequence of the subpolar mean flow which partitions differently into gyres and circumpolar current at different resolutions. We conclude that for a deciphering of the different mechanisms active in Eocene-Oligocene climate change detailed analyses of the pathways of heat in the different climate subsystems are crucial in order to clearly identify the physical processes actually at work.

The North Atlantic subpolar circulation in an eddy-resolving global ocean model

The subpolar North Atlantic represents a key region for global climate, but most numerical models still have well-described limitations in correctly simulating the local circulation patterns. Here, we present the analysis of a 30-year run with a global eddy-resolving (1/12°) version of the NEMO ocean model. Compared to the 1° and 1/4° equivalent versions, this simulation more realistically represents the shape of the Subpolar Gyre, the position of the North Atlantic Current, and the Gulf Stream separation. Other key improvements are found in the representation of boundary currents, multi-year variability of temperature and depth of winter mixing in the Labrador Sea, and the transport of overflows at the Greenland–Scotland Ridge. However, the salinity, stratification and mean depth of winter mixing in the Labrador Sea, and the density and depth of overflow water south of the sill, still present challenges to the model. This simulation also provides further insight into the spatio-temporal development of the warming event observed in the Subpolar Gyre in the mid 1990s, which appears to coincide with a phase of increased eddy activity in the southernmost part of the gyre. This may have provided a gateway through which heat would have propagated into the gyre's interior.

Parallel Domain-decomposed Taiwan Multi-scale Community Ocean Model (PD-TIMCOM)

The Parallel Domain-decomposed Taiwan Multi-scale Community Ocean Model (PD-TIMCOM) was developed to provide a flexible and efficient community ocean model for simulating a variety of idealized and real ocean flows over a wide range of scales and boundary conditions. The model is particularly targeted at resolving multi-scale dynamics in the ocean environment, ranging from small scale turbulence to the global circulation gyres. The novel parallel algorithm improves the efficiency of the Error Vector Propagating (EVP) method, a simple direct solver for the typical pressure Poisson equations in the PD-TIMCOM. The new approach is ideal for multiple processes and takes advantage of parallel domain-decomposition, which can significantly reduce the operational counts and computational costs simultaneously. The speed-up is proportional to the number of domains, thus making the PD-TIMCOM a practical eddy-resolving global ocean model for climate projection. We illustrate the parallel performance based on the 1/4° global adaptation of PD-TIMCOM. Our results show accurate meso-scale variability, the reasonable separation of several western boundary currents from the coast, and the appropriate watermass distribution in the global ocean. Consistent with satellite altimetry, the results also show clear mean fronts in the Kuroshio Extension and extensive Kuroshio–Oyashio interaction. This leads to a quasi-equilibrium eddy field associated with three meandering jets in the Kuroshio Extension and Gulf Stream.

Pathways of mesoscale variability in the South China Sea

The propagation of oceanic mesoscale signals in the South China Sea (SCS) is mapped from satellite altimetric observations and an eddy-resolving global ocean model by using the maximum cross-correlation (MCC) method. Significant mesoscale signals propagate along two major bands of high variability. The northern band is located west of the Luzon Strait, characterized by southwestward eddy propagation. Although eddies are the most active in winter, their southwestward migrations, steered by bathymetry, occur throughout the year. Advection by the mean flow plays a secondary role in modulating the propagating speed. The southern eddy band lies in the southwest part of the SCS deep basin and is oriented in an approximately meridional direction. Mesoscale variability propagates southward along the band in autumn. This southward eddy pathway could not be explained by mean flow advection and is likely related to eddy detachments from the western boundary current due to nonlinear effects. Our mapping of eddy propagation velocities provides important information for further understanding eddy dynamics in the SCS.

Comparison of the Semtner and Chervin eddy-resolving global ocean model with LUCIE and satellite observations in the Leeuwin Current region

Output from the Semtner and Chervin eddy-resolving global ocean general circulation model is compared with observations from the Leeuwin Current Interdisciplinary Experiment (LUCIE) and satellite data for the coastal waters of Western Australia. The model output is a snapshot over the domain 9-43�S, 90-120�E for a day in mid July 1987, which is during the season that the Leeuwin Current is expected to be well established along the western and southern coasts of Western Australia. Maximum Leeuwin Current velocities in the model are of the order of 60 cm s-1 and are found in the southern part of the current on the western coast and around into the Great Australian Bight. At depths below about 200 m, and centred near 400 m, there is an equatorward-flowing undercurrent with maximum velocity of order 25 cm s-1. Comparison of temperature and salinity cross-sections with LUCIE observations reveals that the model output for this day exhibits many realistic features. In particular, the model fields display a number of prominent meanders and eddies on the Leeuwin Current as well as further offshore. Consistent with observations, mesoscale features associated with the Leeuwin Current are concentrated between 25�S and the Cape Mentelle region; the flow in the northern part of the Leeuwin Current and the North West Shelf may be too weak to induce eddy-generating instabilities. Prominent in the model output are two large meanders on the Leeuwin Current between 25�S and 29�S and two anticyclonic eddies further downstream; features similar to these are evident in satellite data during winter 1987.