Climatology and variability of the Indonesian Throughflow in an eddy-permitting oceanic GCM

A quasi-global eddy permitting oceanic GCM, LICOM1.0, is run with the forcing of ERA40 daily wind stress from 1958 to 2001. The modelled Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) is reasonable in the aspects of both its water source and major pathways. Compared with the observation, the simulated annual mean and seasonal cycle of the ITF transport are fairly realistic. The interannual variation of the tropical Pacific Ocean plays a more important role in the interannual variability of the ITF transport. The relationshipbetween the ITF and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) also reflects the influence of ENSO. However, the relationship between the ITF transport and the interannual anomalies in the Pacific and Indian Oceans vary with time. During some years, (e.g., 1994), the effect of a strong IOD on the ITF transport is more than that from ENSO.     

An eddy-permitting oceanic general circulation model and its preliminary evaluation

1. Introduction The current oceanic general circulation models(GCMs) used in climate studies, especially those serv-ing as component models in coupled GCMs, havean average resolution around 2? (IPCC, 2001). Theoceanic GCMs with relatively coarse resolutions canreproduce the major observed features of the large-scale circulations, but there are some insurmount-able di?culties. It was documented by Gates (1992)that the main defects of the coarse resolution oceanicGCMs include the repres…     

A comparison of two global ocean-ice coupled models with different horizontal resolutions

A global eddy-permitting ocean-ice coupled model with a horizontal resolution of 0.25 by 0.25 is established on the basis of Modular Ocean Model version 4 (MOM4) and Sea Ice Simulator (SIS). Simulation results are compared with those of an intermediate resolution ocean-ice coupled model with a horizontal resolution of about 1 by 1 . The results show that the simulated ocean temperature, ocean current and sea ice concentration from the eddy-permitting model are better than those from the intermediate resolution model. However, both the two models have the common problem of ocean general circulation models (OGCMs) that the majority of the simulated summer sea surface temperature (SST) is too warm while the majority of the simulated subsurface summer temperature is too cold. Further numerical experiments show that this problem can be alleviated by incorporating the non-breaking surface wave-induced vertical mixing into the vertical mixing scheme for both eddy-permitting and intermediate resolution models.     

Importance of eddy representation for modeling the intermediate salinity minimum in the North Pacific: Comparison between eddy-resolving and eddy-permitting models

In order to confirm the results of the authors’ previous work, which found that the existence of disturbances smaller than meso-scale eddies is important in large-scale mixing process between the Oyashio and Kuroshio waters in the intermediate layer, the results of an eddy-resolving model experiment are analyzed and compared with those of an eddy-permitting model. The intermediate salinity minimum given in the initial condition weakens as integration advances in the eddy-permitting model, while it recovers rapidly and is maintained thereafter in the eddy-resolving model, initialized from the unrealistic salinity distribution of the former. Filament-like fine structures in temperature and salinity develop actively in the latter, which are much smaller in horizontal width than meso-scale eddies, suggesting the importance of such disturbances in the large-scale mixing. The mixing ratio of the Oyashio water defined by the original Oyashio and Kuroshio waters shows that its value is generally higher in the intermediate lower sub-layer than in the intermediate upper sub-layer in the Mixed Water Region, and the salinity minimum exists between layers with low and high values of the mixing ratio with its strong vertical gradient. The eddy transports of the Oyashio and Kuroshio waters in an isopycnal layer are divided into four components, usual isopycnal mixing of temperature and salinity being dominant, followed by the component associated with the thickness flux. The southward eddy transport of the Oyashio water and the northward eddy transport of the Kuroshio water are not symmetric to each other because the thickness-flux-associated components are in the same direction (southward).     

LICOM模拟的南海贯穿流及其对南海上层热含量的影响

利用SODA(Simple Ocean Data Assimilation)数据、XBT(Expendable Bathythermograph)观测数据和绕岛环流理论(island rule)诊断计算结果评估了一个涡相容(eddy-permitting)全球海洋环流模式——LICOM对南海贯穿流及南海上层热含量的模拟能力,同时利用模式输出探讨了南海贯穿流对南海上层热含量的影响。NEC(North Equatorial Current)分叉的垂向结构、南海内区环流的季节和吕宋海峡体积输送的年际变化等分析结果都表明,LICOM能获取西北太平洋-印尼海域环流和南海贯穿流的合理模拟结果。模式模拟的南海上层热含量季节变化与观测及同化数据都表现出良好的一致性,尤其在南海内区。相关分析表明,吕宋海峡热输送主要控制着南海内区上层的热含量变化,两者呈显著负相关,这进一步证实了南海贯穿流作为一支冷平流调制着南海上层热含量变化的重要事实。