Simulation of the Northern Adriatic Circulation During Winter 2003

Abstract

Numerical simulations of the Adriatic Sea were conducted with the Navy Coastal Ocean Model during the Adriatic Circulation Experiment in the fall and winter of 2002/2003, and results were compared with observations. The ocean model used a I-km resolution grid over the entire Adriatic Sea. Model forcing included atmospheric fluxes from the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoacale Prediction System (COAMPS), tides, boundary conditions from a global model, and freshwater river and runoff inflows. Model tidal elevation showed good agreement with International Hydrographic Organization station data, and model tidal currents showed good agreement with tidal currents determined from acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) measurements. Detided model currents showed good agreement with ADCP currents with rms errors along the principal variance axes raging from 6 to 12.9 cm/s and correlations raging from 0. 16 to 0.81. Correlations between model and ADCP currents along the minor variance axes were generally low. Comparison of the model-simulated temperature and salinity profiles during January and February with conductivity-temperature-depth measurements indicated that the model captured some of the spatial structure of the observed fields. The model response to several bora wind events in January and February showed a recurring pattern of cyclonic and anticyclonic gyres that generally agreed with observations and reflected the pattern of wind stress curl from the COAMPS wind stress forcing.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 19, 2006
Accession Number
ADA470356

Entities

People

  • J. W. Book
  • James D. Doyle
  • P. J. Martin

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Adriatic Sea
  • Agreements
  • Atmospheres
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Heat Flux
  • Measurement
  • Mediterranean Sea
  • Military Research
  • Observation
  • Oceanography
  • Oceans
  • Salinity
  • Simulations
  • Tidal Currents
  • Underwater Acoustics
  • Wind Stress

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers
  • Oceanography.