Cross-Scale Coupling: Modeling Oceanic Variability from the Pacific Basin Scale to Local Coastal Domains Along the North America West Coast (NAWC)
Abstract
Realistic, skillful numerical simulations of oceanic physical-ecological-biogeochemical processes are urgently needed to address many societal problems (e.g., naval operations, climate change, coastal eutrophication, fisheries). An important requirement, as yet rarely met, is the capability of simulating both the global or basin-scale circulation and the more local flows that respond to the larger scale changes ( down-scaling ), and sometimes feedback on them and influence their evolution ( up-scaling ). We have proposed to investigate the space-time structure and causal mechanisms for this cross-scale coupling as it occurs in the oceanic circulation and water properties along the North American West Coast (NAWC) within the context of large-scale changes throughout the Pacific basin. The cross-scale coupling is manifested over a broad range of time scales, ranging from synoptic and intra-seasonal (with cross-scale communication by barotropic Rossby and coastal waves) through seasonal and interannual (with transient currents, mesoscale eddies, and baroclinic waves) to decadal or longer (with slowly varying quasi-equilibrium currents over the whole basin). Simulations will be made both for the Pacific as a whole and for the NAWC regional and local coastal (a.k.a. littoral) subdomains, using either eddy-excluding or eddy-permitting grid resolutions for the former and fine mesoscale resolutions for the latter.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA573216
Entities
People
- Francois Colas
- James C. McWilliams
- Xavier J. Capet
Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles