High-resolution Global Ocean Model Research Articles

Variation in Oceanographic Resistance of the World's Coastlines to Invasion by Species With Planktonic Dispersal.

For marine species with planktonic dispersal, invasion of open ocean coastlines is impaired by the physical adversity of ocean currents moving larvae downstream and offshore. The extent species are affected by physical adversity depends on interactions of the currents with larval life history traits such as planktonic duration, depth and seasonality. Ecologists have struggled to understand how these traits expose species to adverse ocean currents and affect their ability to persist when introduced to novel habitat. We use a high-resolution global ocean model to isolate the role of ocean currents on the persistence of a larval-producing species introduced to every open coastline of the world. We find physical adversity to invasion varies globally by several orders of magnitude. Larval duration is the most influential life history trait because increased duration prolongs species' exposure to ocean currents. Furthermore, variation of physical adversity with life history elucidates how trade-offs between dispersal traits vary globally.

Topographic Hotspots of Southern Ocean Eddy Upwelling

The upwelling of cold water from the depths of the Southern Ocean to its surface closes the global overturning circulation and facilitates uptake of anthropogenic heat and carbon. Upwelling is often conceptualised in a zonally averaged framework as the result of isopycnal flattening via baroclinic eddies. However, upwelling is zonally non-uniform and occurs in discrete hotspots near topographic features. The mechanisms that facilitate topographically confined eddy upwelling remain poorly understood and thus limit the accuracy of parameterisations in coarse-resolution climate models.Using a high-resolution global ocean sea-ice model, we calculate spatial distributions of upwelling transport and energy conversions associated with barotropic and baroclinic instability, derived from a thickness-weighted energetics framework. We find that five major topographic hotspots of upwelling, covering less than 30% of the circumpolar longitude range, account for up to 76% of the southward eddy upwelling transport. The conversion of energy into eddies via baroclinic instability is highly spatially correlated with upwelling transport, unlike the barotropic energy conversion, which is also an order of magnitude smaller than the baroclinic conversion. This result suggests that eddy parameterisations that quantify baroclinic energy conversions could be used to improve the simulation of upwelling hotspots in climate models. We also find that eddy kinetic energy maxima are found on average 110 km downstream of upwelling hotspots in accordance with sparse observations. Our findings demonstrate the importance of localised mechanisms to Southern Ocean dynamics.

Impact of symmetric instability parametrization scheme on the upper ocean layer in a high-resolution global ocean model

The primary effect of symmetric instability (SI) is the shoaling of the mixed layer. This has been shown to improve the vertical mixing of a passive tracer between the surface mixed layer and the ocean interior in several ideal models. In this study, we apply an SI parameterization scheme on a resolved front in a realistic, high-resolution global ocean model, and evaluate global-scale SI effects. We analyze the model outputs for two typical front regions: the Kuroshio Extension (KE) shows conditions favorable for SI generation whereas in the Subantarctic Front (SAF), east of Australia, SI is weak. We demonstrate that the SI parameterization has a detectable effect on the global-scale sea surface temperature (SST), mixed layer depth (MLD), especially in the strong front and current-topography interactions regions, in winter in the northern and southern hemispheres. The variation of MLD changes by 30% in a local region when SI parameterization scheme is considered. These spatial and temporal distribution characteristics are consistent with those expected for the SI mechanism. However, the SI parameterization only results in submesoscale positive and negative staggered patch structures in the MLD and SST, analogous to turbulence structures. Therefore, its global-scale direct impacts on the MLD and SST are not systematic. The submesoscale disturbance induced by the SI parameterization is of the same order of magnitude as the errors in the current SST observation data; as such, it is assumed to be statistically insignificant in the scope of the current study in a global model. The submesoscale MLD and SST disturbance induced by SI is probably important for local air-sea exchange, but this requires further investigation with the use of long-time-integral coupled models in the future.

Sea surface salinity short-term variability in the tropics

Abstract. Using data from the Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array, we study the validation process for satellite measurement of sea surface salinity (SSS). We compute short-term variability (STV) of SSS, variability on timescales of 2–17 d. It is a proxy for subfootprint variability over a 100 km footprint as seen by a satellite measuring SSS. We also compute representation error, which is meant to mimic the SSS satellite validation process where footprint averages are compared to pointwise in situ values. We present maps of these quantities over the tropical array. We also look at seasonality in the variability of SSS and find which months have maximum and minimum amounts. STV is driven at least partly by rainfall. Moorings exhibit larger STV during rainy periods than during non-rainy ones. The same computations are also done using output from a high-resolution global ocean model to see how it might be used to study the validation process. The model gives good estimates of STV, in line with the moorings, although tending to have smaller values.

Improving the accuracy of barotropic and internal tides embedded in a high-resolution global ocean circulation model of MITgcm

In recent years, high-resolution global ocean circulation models have begun to include astronomical tidal forcing to concurrently simulate ocean circulation, barotropic and internal tides. The inclusion of tides is of great significance for understanding three-dimensional (3-D) ocean mixing and developing internal tide prediction. However, due to uncertainty in topography and damping terms, improper representation of the self-attraction and loading term, barotropic tidal estimate cannot match that in the data-constrained barotropic tidal model. In this study, the TPXO8 data are assimilated to optimize the tides embedded in a global 9-km 3-D general circulation model of MITgcm as follows. For each time step of the MITgcm, the previous 25-hour-averaged sea surface height (SSH) is subtracted from the instantaneous SSH to obtain the MITgcm surface tidal elevation. Then, the difference of surface tidal elevation between the MITgcm and TPXO8 together with a damping coefficient acts as an additional term for the right-hand side of the SSH equation in order to correct the SSH field. Results show that the global M2 (K1) error of the corrected surface tidal elevation relative to the TPXO8 reaches 2.12 cm (0.89 cm). Compared with tide gauge data, the accuracy of surface tidal elevation after using the correction scheme is almost the same as that of TPXO8 for all areas except for some continental shelf and coastal areas. The internal tidal signals are subsequently improved compared to the along-track altimetry and TAO observations. Compared to previous tidal assimilation scheme, the implementation of the correction scheme used in this study is simple and more suitable for realistic applications.

Impact of Tropical Cyclones on the Global Ocean: Results from Multidecadal Global Ocean Simulations Isolating Tropical Cyclone Forcing

Tropical cyclone (TC)-induced ocean vertical mixing can alter the upper-ocean temperature structure, influencing ocean heat content variability and meridional ocean heat transport. TC–ocean interactions can influence tropical variability on seasonal to interannual time scales. Here the impacts of TCs on the global ocean and the associated feedbacks are investigated using a hierarchy of high-resolution global ocean model simulations featuring the Community Earth System Model (CESM). The aim is to understand the potential impact of the model’s self-generated transient TC events on the modeled global ocean. Two ocean-only simulations are performed using the atmosphere boundary conditions from a fully coupled preindustrial CESM simulation configured with 0.25° atmosphere resolution and the nominal 1° ocean resolution (with ~0.25° meridional resolution in the tropics). The high-resolution coupled model is capable of directly simulating TC events with wind structure and climatology generally consistent with observations. TC effects at the ocean–atmosphere boundary are filtered out in one of the ocean simulations (OCN_FILT) while fully retained in the other (OCN_TC) in order to isolate the effect of the TCs on regional and global ocean variability across multiple time scales (from intraseasonal to interdecadal). Results show that the model-simulated TCs can 1) alter surface and subsurface ocean temperature patterns and variability; 2) affect ocean energetics, including increasing ocean mixed layer depth and strengthening subtropical gyre and meridional overturning circulations; and 3) influence ocean meridional heat transport and ocean heat content from seasonal to interannual time scales. Results help provide insights into the model behavior and the physical nature of the effect of TCs within the Earth system.

High-frequency and meso-scale winter sea-ice variability in the Southern Ocean in a high-resolution global ocean model

high-frequency temporal variability (HFV) and meso-scale spatial variability (MSV) of winter sea-ice drift in the Southern Ocean simulated with a global high-resolution (0.1°) sea ice-ocean model. Hourly model output is used to distinguish MSV characteristics via patterns of mean kinetic energy (MKE) and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) of ice drift, surface currents, and wind stress, and HFV characteristics via time series of raw variables and correlations.We find that (1) along the ice edge, the MSVof ice drift coincides with that of surface currents, in particular such due to ocean eddies; (2) along the coast, theMKE of ice drift is substantially larger than its TKE and coincides with the MKE of wind stress; (3) in the interior of the ice pack, the TKE of ice drift is larger than its MKE, mostly following the TKE pattern of wind stress; (4) the HFVof ice drift is dominated by weather events, and, in the absence of tidal currents, locally and to a much smaller degree by inertial oscillations; (5) along the ice edge, the curl of the ice drift is highly correlated with that of surface currents, mostly reflecting the impact of ocean eddies. Where ocean eddies occur and the ice is relatively thin, ice velocity is characterized by enhanced relative vorticity, largely matching that of surface currents. Along the ice edge, ocean eddies produce distinct ice filaments, the realism of which is largely confirmed by high-resolution satellite passive-microwave data.

The IOD-ENSO precursory teleconnection over the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean: dynamics and long-term trends under global warming

The dynamics of the teleconnection between the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) in the tropical Indian Ocean and El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the tropical Pacific Ocean at the time lag of one year are investigated using lag correlations between the oceanic anomalies in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean in fall and those in the tropical Indo-Pacific Ocean in the following winter-fall seasons in the observations and in high-resolution global ocean model simulations. The lag correlations suggest that the IOD-forced interannual transport anomalies of the Indonesian Throughflow generate thermocline anomalies in the western equatorial Pacific Ocean, which propagate to the east to induce ocean-atmosphere coupled evolution leading to ENSO. In comparison, lag correlations between the surface zonal wind anomalies over the western equatorial Pacific in fall and the Indo-Pacific oceanic anomalies at time lags longer than a season are all insignificant, suggesting the short memory of the atmospheric bridge. A linear continuously stratified model is used to investigate the dynamics of the oceanic connection between the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans. The experiments suggest that interannual equatorial Kelvin waves from the Indian Ocean propagate into the equatorial Pacific Ocean through the Makassar Strait and the eastern Indonesian seas with a penetration rate of about 10%–15% depending on the baroclinic modes. The IOD-ENSO teleconnection is found to get stronger in the past century or so. Diagnoses of the CMIP5 model simulations suggest that the increased teleconnection is associated with decreased Indonesian Throughflow transports in the recent century, which is found sensitive to the global warming forcing.

Remote Ocean Response to the Madden–Julian Oscillation during the DYNAMO Field Campaign: Impact on Somali Current System and the Seychelles–Chagos Thermocline Ridge

During the CINDY/DYNAMO field campaign, exceptionally large upper ocean responses to strong westerly wind events associated with the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) were observed in the central equatorial Indian Ocean. Strong eastward equatorial currents in the upper ocean lasted more than one month from late November 2011 to early January 2012. The remote ocean response to these unique MJO events are investigated using a high resolution (1/25°) global ocean general circulation model along with the satellite altimeter data. The local ocean response to the MJO events are realistically simulated by the global model based on the comparison with the data collected during the field campaign. The satellite altimeter data show that anomalous sea surface height (SSH) associated with the strong eastward jets propagated eastward as an equatorial Kelvin wave. The positive SSH anomalies then partly propagate westward as a reflected Rossby wave. The SSH anomalies associated with the reflected Rossby wave in the southern hemisphere propagate all the way to the western boundary. These remote ocean responses are well simulated by the global model. The analysis of the model simulation indicates the significant influence of reflected Rossby waves on sub-seasonal variability of Somali current system near the equator. The analysis further suggests that the reflected Rossby wave causes a substantial change in the structure of the Seychelles–Chagos thermocline ridge, which contributes to significant SST anomalies.

Evaluation of scale-aware subgrid mesoscale eddy models in a global eddy-rich model

Two parameterizations for horizontal mixing of momentum and tracers by subgrid mesoscale eddies are implemented in a high-resolution global ocean model. These parameterizations follow on the techniques of large eddy simulation (LES). The theory underlying one parameterization (2D Leith due to Leith, 1996) is that of enstrophy cascades in two-dimensional turbulence, while the other (QG Leith) is designed for potential enstrophy cascades in quasi-geostrophic turbulence. Simulations using each of these parameterizations are compared with a control simulation using standard biharmonic horizontal mixing.Simulations using the 2D Leith and QG Leith parameterizations are more realistic than those using biharmonic mixing. In particular, the 2D Leith and QG Leith simulations have more energy in resolved mesoscale eddies, have a spectral slope more consistent with turbulence theory (an inertial enstrophy or potential enstrophy cascade), have bottom drag and vertical viscosity as the primary sinks of energy instead of lateral friction, and have isoneutral parameterized mesoscale tracer transport. The parameterization choice also affects mass transports, but the impact varies regionally in magnitude and sign.

Going with the flow: the role of ocean circulation in global marine ecosystems under a changing climate.

Ocean warming, acidification, deoxygenation and reduced productivity are widely considered to be the major stressors to ocean ecosystems induced by emissions of CO2 . However, an overlooked stressor is the change in ocean circulation in response to climate change. Strong changes in the intensity and position of the western boundary currents have already been observed, and the consequences of such changes for ecosystems are beginning to emerge. In this study, we address climatically induced changes in ocean circulation on a global scale but relevant to propagule dispersal for species inhabiting global shelf ecosystems, using a high-resolution global ocean model run under the IPCC RCP 8.5 scenario. The ¼ degree model resolution allows improved regional realism of the ocean circulation beyond that of available CMIP5-class models. We use a Lagrangian approach forced by modelled ocean circulation to simulate the circulation pathways that disperse planktonic life stages. Based on trajectory backtracking, we identify present-day coastal retention, dominant flow and dispersal range for coastal regions at the global scale. Projecting into the future, we identify areas of the strongest projected circulation change and present regional examples with the most significant modifications in their dominant pathways. Climatically induced changes in ocean circulation should be considered as an additional stressor of marine ecosystems in a similar way to ocean warming or acidification.

Impact of the Madden–Julian Oscillation on the Indonesian Throughflow in the Makassar Strait during the CINDY/DYNAMO Field Campaign

Abstract Previous studies indicate that equatorial zonal winds in the Indian Ocean can significantly influence the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF). During the Cooperative Indian Ocean Experiment on Intraseasonal Variability (CINDY)/Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) field campaign, two strong MJO events were observed within a month without a clear suppressed phase between them, and these events generated exceptionally strong ocean responses. Strong eastward currents along the equator in the Indian Ocean lasted more than one month from late November 2011 to early January 2012. The influence of these unique MJO events during the field campaign on ITF variability is investigated using a high-resolution (1/25°) global ocean general circulation model, the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM). The strong westerlies associated with these MJO events, which exceed 10 m s−1, generate strong equatorial eastward jets and downwelling near the eastern boundary. The equatorial jets are realistically simulated by the global HYCOM based on the comparison with the data collected during the field campaign. The analysis demonstrates that sea surface height (SSH) and alongshore velocity anomalies at the eastern boundary propagate along the coast of Sumatra and Java as coastal Kelvin waves, significantly reducing the ITF transport at the Makassar Strait during January–early February. The alongshore velocity anomalies associated with the Kelvin wave significantly leads SSH anomalies. The magnitude of the anomalous currents at the Makassar Strait is exceptionally large because of the unique feature of the MJO events, and thus the typical seasonal cycle of ITF could be significantly altered by strong MJO events such as those observed during the CINDY/DYNAMO field campaign.

Performance and results of the high-resolution biogeochemical model PELAGOS025 v1.0 within NEMO v3.4

Abstract. The present work aims at evaluating the scalability performance of a high-resolution global ocean biogeochemistry model (PELAGOS025) on massive parallel architectures and the benefits in terms of the time-to-solution reduction. PELAGOS025 is an on-line coupling between the Nucleus for the European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO) physical ocean model and the Biogeochemical Flux Model (BFM) biogeochemical model. Both the models use a parallel domain decomposition along the horizontal dimension. The parallelisation is based on the message passing paradigm. The performance analysis has been done on two parallel architectures, an IBM BlueGene/Q at ALCF (Argonne Leadership Computing Facilities) and an IBM iDataPlex with Sandy Bridge processors at the CMCC (Euro Mediterranean Center on Climate Change). The outcome of the analysis demonstrated that the lack of scalability is due to several factors such as the I/O operations, the memory contention, the load unbalancing due to the memory structure of the BFM component and, for the BlueGene/Q, the absence of a hybrid parallelisation approach.

From global to regional and back again: common climate stressors of marine ecosystems relevant for adaptation across five ocean warming hotspots.

Ocean warming ‘hotspots’ are regions characterized by above‐average temperature increases over recent years, for which there are significant consequences for both living marine resources and the societies that depend on them. As such, they represent early warning systems for understanding the impacts of marine climate change, and test‐beds for developing adaptation options for coping with those impacts. Here, we examine five hotspots off the coasts of eastern Australia, South Africa, Madagascar, India and Brazil. These particular hotspots have underpinned a large international partnership that is working towards improving community adaptation by characterizing, assessing and projecting the likely future of coastal‐marine food resources through the provision and sharing of knowledge. To inform this effort, we employ a high‐resolution global ocean model forced by Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 and simulated to year 2099. In addition to the sea surface temperature, we analyse projected stratification, nutrient supply, primary production, anthropogenic CO 2‐driven ocean acidification, deoxygenation and ocean circulation. Our simulation finds that the temperature‐defined hotspots studied here will continue to experience warming but, with the exception of eastern Australia, may not remain the fastest warming ocean areas over the next century as the strongest warming is projected to occur in the subpolar and polar areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Additionally, we find that recent rapid change in SST is not necessarily an indicator that these areas are also hotspots of the other climatic stressors examined. However, a consistent facet of the hotspots studied here is that they are all strongly influenced by ocean circulation, which has already shown changes in the recent past and is projected to undergo further strong change into the future. In addition to the fast warming, change in local ocean circulation represents a distinct feature of present and future climate change impacting marine ecosystems in these areas.

Impact of topographic internal lee wave drag on an eddying global ocean model

The impact of topographic internal lee wave drag (wave drag hereafter) on several aspects of the low-frequency circulation in a high-resolution global ocean model forced by winds and air-sea buoyancy fluxes is examined here. The HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) is run at two different horizontal resolutions (one nominally 1/12° and the other 1/25°). Wave drag, which parameterizes both topographic blocking and the generation of lee waves arising from geostrophic flow impinging upon rough topography, is inserted into the simulations as they run. The parameterization used here affects the momentum equations and hence the structure of eddy kinetic energy. Lee waves also have implications for diapycnal mixing in the ocean, though the parameterization does not directly modify the density. Total near-bottom energy dissipation due to wave drag and quadratic bottom boundary layer drag is nearly doubled, and the energy dissipation due to quadratic bottom drag is reduced by about a factor of two, in simulations with an inserted wave drag compared to simulations having only quadratic bottom drag. With the insertion of wave drag, the kinetic energy is reduced in the abyss and in a three-dimensional global integral. Deflection by partial topographic blocking is inferred to be one reason why the near-bottom kinetic energy can increase in locations where there is little change in dissipation by quadratic bottom drag. Despite large changes seen in the abyss, the changes that occur near the sea surface are relatively small upon insertion of wave drag into the simulations. Both the sea surface height variance and geostrophic surface kinetic energy are reduced on global average by more than twice the seasonal variability in these diagnostics. Alterations in the intensified jet positions brought about by inserting wave drag are not distinguishable from the temporal variability of jet positions. Various statistical measures suggest that applying wave drag only within a fixed distance from the seafloor is not detrimental to the model performance relative to observations. However, the introduction of a novel diagnostic suggests that one way to improve the wave drag parameterization is to allow the vertical deposition of lee wave momentum flux to be spatially heterogeneous.

On improving the accuracy of the M2 barotropic tides embedded in a high-resolution global ocean circulation model

The ocean tidal velocity and elevation can be estimated concurrently with the ocean circulation by adding the astronomical tidal forcing, parameterized topographic internal wave drag, and self-attraction and loading to the general circulation physics. However, the accuracy of these tidal estimates does not yet match accuracies in the best data-assimilative barotropic tidal models. This paper investigates the application of an augmented state ensemble Kalman Filter (ASEnKF) to improve the accuracy of M2 barotropic tides embedded in a 1/12.5° three-dimensional ocean general circulation model. The ASEnKF is an alternative to the techniques typically used with linearized tide-only models; such techniques cannot be applied to the embedded tides in a nonlinear eddying circulation. An extra term, meant to correct for errors in the tide model due to imperfectly known topography and damping terms, is introduced into the tidal forcing. Ensembles of the model are created with stochastically generated forcing correction terms. The discrepancies for each ensemble member with TPXO, an existing data-assimilative tide model, are computed. The ASEnKF method yields an optimal estimate of the model forcing correction terms, that minimizes resultant root mean square (RMS) tidal sea surface elevation error with respect to TPXO, as well as an estimate of the tidal elevation. The deep-water, global area-averaged RMS sea surface elevation error of the principal lunar semidiurnal tide M2 is reduced from 4.4 cm in a best-case non-assimilative solution to 2.6 cm. The largest elevation errors in both the non-assimilative and ASEnKF solutions are in the North Atlantic, a highly resonant basin. Possible pathways for achieving further reductions in the RMS error are discussed.

Geostrophic Turbulence in the Frequency–Wavenumber Domain: Eddy-Driven Low-Frequency Variability*

Abstract Motivated by the potential of oceanic mesoscale eddies to drive intrinsic low-frequency variability, this paper examines geostrophic turbulence in the frequency–wavenumber domain. Frequency–wavenumber spectra, spectral fluxes, and spectral transfers are computed from an idealized two-layer quasigeostrophic (QG) turbulence model, a realistic high-resolution global ocean general circulation model, and gridded satellite altimeter products. In the idealized QG model, energy in low wavenumbers, arising from nonlinear interactions via the well-known inverse cascade, is associated with energy in low frequencies and vice versa, although not in a simple way. The range of frequencies that are highly energized and engaged in nonlinear transfer is much greater than the range of highly energized and engaged wavenumbers. Low-frequency, low-wavenumber energy is maintained primarily by nonlinearities in the QG model, with forcing and friction playing important but secondary roles. In the high-resolution ocean model, nonlinearities also generally drive kinetic energy to low frequencies as well as to low wavenumbers. Implications for the maintenance of low-frequency oceanic variability are discussed. The cascade of surface kinetic energy to low frequencies that predominates in idealized and realistic models is seen in some regions of the gridded altimeter product, but not in others. Exercises conducted with the general circulation model suggest that the spatial and temporal filtering inherent in the construction of gridded satellite altimeter maps may contribute to the discrepancies between the direction of the frequency cascade in models versus gridded altimeter maps seen in some regions. Of course, another potential reason for the discrepancy is missing physics in the models utilized here.

How stationary are the internal tides in a high-resolution global ocean circulation model?

The stationarity of the internal tides generated in a global eddy-resolving ocean circulation model forced by realistic atmospheric fluxes and the luni-solar gravitational potential is explored. The root mean square (RMS) variability in the M2 internal tidal amplitude is approximately 2 mm or less over most of the ocean and exceeds 2 mm in regions with larger internal tidal amplitude. The M2 RMS variability approaches the mean amplitude in weaker tidal areas such as the tropical Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean, but is smaller than the mean amplitude near generation regions. Approximately 60% of the variance in the complex M2 tidal amplitude is due to amplitude-weighted phase variations. Using the RMS tidal amplitude variations normalized by the mean tidal amplitude (normalized RMS variability (NRMS)) as a metric for stationarity, low-mode M2 internal tides with NRMS < 0.5 are stationary over 25% of the deep ocean, particularly near the generation regions. The M2 RMS variability tends to increase with increasing mean amplitude. However, the M2 NRMS variability tends to decrease with increasing mean amplitude, and regions with strong low-mode internal tides are more stationary. The internal tide beams radiating away from generation regions become less stationary with distance. Similar results are obtained for other tidal constituents with the overall stationarity of the constituent decreasing as the energy in the constituent decreases. Seasonal variations dominate the RMS variability in the Arabian Sea and near-equatorial oceans. Regions of high eddy kinetic energy are regions of higher internal tide nonstationarity.

Quantification of errors induced by temporal resolution on Lagrangian particles in an eddy-resolving model

Lagrangian particle tracking within ocean models is an important tool for the examination of ocean circulation, ventilation timescales and connectivity and is increasingly being used to understand ocean biogeochemistry. Lagrangian trajectories are obtained by advecting particles within velocity fields derived from hydrodynamic ocean models. For studies of ocean flows on scales ranging from mesoscale up to basin scales, the temporal resolution of the velocity fields should ideally not be more than a few days to capture the high frequency variability that is inherent in mesoscale features. However, in reality, the model output is often archived at much lower temporal resolutions. Here, we quantify the differences in the Lagrangian particle trajectories embedded in velocity fields of varying temporal resolution. Particles are advected from 3-day to 30-day averaged fields in a high-resolution global ocean circulation model. We also investigate whether adding lateral diffusion to the particle movement can compensate for the reduced temporal resolution.Trajectory errors reveal the expected degradation of accuracy in the trajectory positions when decreasing the temporal resolution of the velocity field. Divergence timescales associated with averaging velocity fields up to 30days are faster than the intrinsic dispersion of the velocity fields but slower than the dispersion caused by the interannual variability of the velocity fields. In experiments focusing on the connectivity along major currents, including western boundary currents, the volume transport carried between two strategically placed sections tends to increase with increased temporal averaging. Simultaneously, the average travel times tend to decrease. Based on these two bulk measured diagnostics, Lagrangian experiments that use temporal averaging of up to nine days show no significant degradation in the flow characteristics for a set of six currents investigated in more detail. The addition of random-walk-style diffusion does not mitigate the errors introduced by temporal averaging for large-scale open ocean Lagrangian simulations.

Impact of parameterized lee wave drag on the energy budget of an eddying global ocean model

The impact of parameterized topographic internal lee wave drag on the input and output terms in the total mechanical energy budget of a hybrid coordinate high-resolution global ocean general circulation model forced by winds and air-sea buoyancy fluxes is examined here. Wave drag, which parameterizes the generation of internal lee waves arising from geostrophic flow impinging upon rough topography, is included in the prognostic model, ensuring that abyssal currents and stratification in the model are affected by the wave drag.An inline mechanical (kinetic plus gravitational potential) energy budget including four dissipative terms (parameterized topographic internal lee wave drag, quadratic bottom boundary layer drag, vertical eddy viscosity, and horizontal eddy viscosity) demonstrates that wave drag dissipates less energy in the model than a diagnostic (offline) estimate would suggest, due to reductions in both the abyssal currents and stratification. The equator experiences the largest reduction in energy dissipation associated with wave drag in inline versus offline estimates. Quadratic bottom drag is the energy sink most affected globally by the presence of wave drag in the model; other energy sinks are substantially affected locally, but not in their global integrals. It is suggested that wave drag cannot be mimicked by artificially increasing the quadratic bottom drag because the energy dissipation rates associated with bottom drag are not spatially correlated with those associated with wave drag where the latter are small. Additionally, in contrast to bottom drag, wave drag is a non-local energy sink.All four aforementioned dissipative terms contribute substantially to the total energy dissipation rate of about one terawatt. The partial time derivative of potential energy (non-zero since the isopycnal depths have a long adjustment time), the surface advective fluxes of potential energy, the rate of change of potential energy due to diffusive mass fluxes, and the conversion between internal energy and potential energy also play a non-negligible role in the total mechanical energy budget. Reasons for the <10% total mechanical energy budget imbalance are discussed.