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A nested Atlantic-Mediterranean Sea general circulation model for operational forecasting
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Abstract
A new numerical general circulation ocean model
for the Mediterranean Sea has been implemented nested
within an Atlantic general circulation model within the
framework of the Marine Environment and Security for the
European Area project (MERSEA, Desaubies, 2006). A 4-
year twin experiment was carried out from January 2004 to
December 2007 with two different models to evaluate the
impact on the Mediterranean Sea circulation of open lateral
boundary conditions in the Atlantic Ocean. One model considers
a closed lateral boundary in a large Atlantic box and
the other is nested in the same box in a global ocean circulation
model. Impact was observed comparing the two simulations
with independent observations: ARGO for temperature
and salinity profiles and tide gauges and along-track satellite
observations for the sea surface height. The improvement in
the nested Atlantic-Mediterranean model with respect to the
closed one is particularly evident in the salinity characteristics
of the Modified Atlantic Water and in the Mediterranean
sea level seasonal variability