An orthogonal curvilinear coordinate system for a world ocean model

A orthogonal, curvilinear grid system for World Ocean modelling is examined. It involves the coupling of two non-singular spherical sub-grids, avoiding the North Pole singularity of the standard, spherical coordinates. The two sub-grids are connected in the equatorial Atlantic. It is shown how to minimize the sudden variation in the grid size across the connection line. It is suggested that the two spherical coordinate systems be considered as a single orthogonal, curvilinear coordinate system, in which the metric coefficients and the OGCM governing equations are established

Impact of sea-ice formation on the properties of Antarctic bottom water

It is generally accepted that fresh-water fluxes due to ice accretion or melting profoundly influence the formation of Antarctic bottom water (AABW). This is investigated by means of a global, three-dimensional ice-ocean model. Two model runs were conducted. At the high southern latitudes, the control experiment exhibits positive (i.e. towards the ocean) fresh-water fluxes over the deep ocean, and large negative fluxes over the Antarctic continental shelf, because of the intense ice-production taking place in this region. The salinity of shelf water can increase in such a way that deep-water formation is facilitated. The simulated net fresh-water flux over the shelf has an annual mean value of -1 m a-1. This flux induces a transport of salt to bottom waters, which corresponds to an increase of their salinity estimated to be around 0.05 psu. In the second model run, the fresh-water fluxes due to ice melting or freezing are neglected, leading to a rearrangement of the water masses. In particular, the AABW-formation rate decreases, which allows the influence of North Atlantic deep water (NADW) to increase. As NADW is warmer and saltier than AABW, the bottom-water salinity and temperature become higher

The concept of age in marine modelling: 1. Theory and preliminary model results

The age of a particle of a seawater constituent is defined to be the time elapsed since the particle under consideration left the region, in which its age is prescribed to be zero. An Eulerian theory of the age is presented, in which advection, diffusion, production and destruction phenomena are properly accounted for. The key hypothesis is that the mean age of a set of particles is to be evaluated as the mass-weighted average of the ages of the particles under study. The basic variable is the concentration distribution function, representing, at a given time and location, the distribution over the age of the concentration of the constituent being considered. This function satisfies a partial differential equation, which, upon appropriate integration over the age, yields the equations, in flux form, governing the evolution of the concentration and the age concentration. The ratio of the latter variable to the former is the mean age. Further theoretical developments are presented, including a thought experiment showing that mixing processes cause the ages of various constituents to be different from each other. The potential of the age as a tool for understanding complex marine flows is briefly demonstrated by analysing the results of two numerical models. The ages of a passive tracer, a radioactive tracer and the water are computed, along with a suitably defined radio-age. First, the fate of tracers released into the English Channel at La Hague is simulated. Then, ages are computed in the World Ocean as a measure of the time that has elapsed since leaving the surface layers. A theorem is demonstrated, which specifies that the age of the radioactive tracer must be smaller than the relevant radio-age, the latter being smaller than the age of the passive tracer, which, under appropriate hypotheses, can be seen to be equivalent to the age of the water. These inequalities seem to be remarkably robust, since they are found to hold valid in most of the numerical and analytical results examined in the present study. On the other hand, a dimensionless number is highlighted, which is believed to play an important role in the scaling of the differences between ages

The sources of Antarctic bottom water in a global ice–ocean model

Two mechanisms contribute to the formation of Antarctic bottom water (AABW). The first, and probably the most important, is initiated by the brine released on the Antarctic continental shelf during ice formation which is responsible for an increase in salinity. After mixing with ambient water at the shelf break, this salty and dense water sinks along the shelf slope and invades the deepest part of the global ocean. For the second one, the increase of surface water density is due to strong cooling at the ocean–atmosphere interface, together with a contribution from brine release. This induces deep convection and the renewal of deep waters. The relative importance of these two mechanisms is investigated in a global coupled ice–ocean model. Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) concentrations simulated by the model compare favourably with observations, suggesting a reasonable deep water ventilation in the Southern Ocean, except close to Antarctica where concentrations are too high. Two artificial passive tracers released at surface on the Antarctic continental shelf and in the open-ocean allow to show clearly that the two mechanisms contribute significantly to the renewal of AABW in the model. This indicates that open-ocean convection is overestimated in our simulation. Additional experiments show that the amount of AABW production due to the export of dense shelf waters is quite sensitive to the parameterisation of the effect of downsloping and meso-scale eddies. Nevertheless, shelf waters always contribute significantly to deep water renewal. Besides, increasing the P.R. Gent, J.C. McWilliams [Journal of Physical Oceanography 20 (1990) 150–155] thickness diffusion can nearly suppress the AABW formation by open-ocean convection

Some theoretical and modelling aspects of the age as a tool for understanding marine flows

The age of a parcel of a constituent of seawater is defined to be the time elapsed since the parcel under consideration left the region where its age is prescribed to be zero. Estimating the age is thus an invaluable tool for understanding complex oceanic flows and the functioning of the numerical models used for representing them. In this paper, a general theory of the age is presented, in which advection, diffusion, production and destruction are properly accounted for. The partial differential equations used for the rigorous computation of the age as a function of space and time are established. This general theory is applied to the computation of the ventilation rates in the World Ocean. The results are compared with those of widely used carbon-14-like dating techniques. Using both numerical simulations and analytical developments, it is shown that the age of the radioactive tracer is smaller than the carbon-14-like age, which is larger than that of the passive tracer. The latter is equivalent to the ventilation or water age. The difference between the various ages, which is essentially due to the influence of mixing processes, increases as the timescale of decay of the radioactive tracer decreases

Another Reason why Simple Discritizations of Rotated Diffusion Operators Cause Problems in Ocean Models: Comments on "Isoneural Diffusion in a z-Coordinate Ocean Model".

Abstract not availableJRC.(SAI)-Space Application Institut

Modelling of the climatic system and its response to human activities

Only mathematical models are able to predict the climate change that will be induced over the next decades by the increase of the atmospheric concentration in greenhouse gases. To produce such forecasts it is necessary to work out a model of the Earth's climate system encompassing, at least, the atmosphere, the World Ocean and the sea ice. Such a model is being developed at ASTR. The AGCM of the LMD has been installed at ASTR. This model is briefly described and the first results obtained at ASTR are presented. The sea ice model is of thermodynamic-dynamic type. It is shown that the thermodynamic part, when coupled to a simple ocean model, is giving realistic results. It is believed that an excellent representation of the sea ice cover will be obtained after completing the validation of the thermodynamic part. The free surface OGCM is briefly described. The model has been successfully tested in a robust diagnostic mode, which means that the main features of the oceanic general circulation are well represented. A first simulation without restoring terms was preformed, giving very encouraging results