Eddy Effects in the General Circulation, Spanning Mean Currents, Mesoscale Eddies, and Topographic Generation, Including Submesoscale Nests
Abstract
Long Term Goals. Our goals are the continuing development of the Regional Oceanic Modeling System (ROMS) with emphasis on the ability to simulate realistic, highly-turbulent flows at basin, regional, and local scales at resolutions sufficient to capture submesoscale phenomena through the use of grid nesting techniques; analysis and understanding the underlying physical processes; and improved parameterizations of unresolved processes, applicable numerical algorithms, and relevant computer-science techniques needed for an efficient parallel code adapted for modern computing environments. Objectives. The central scientific questions are how the eddies control the persistent currents by their eddy-induced momentum and buoyancy fluxes, turbulent mixing, and their bottom form stress (pressure force) and bottom boundary layers all the aspects associated with turbulent flows over steep topography in the presence of stratification. These questions are investigated in the context of western boundary currents, the Gulf Stream and the Kuroshio, as well as the western Pacific (Solomon Sea). The intent is obtain realistically accurate separation and the subsequent path of the Gulf Stream, the Kuroshio path from Taiwan to Japan with subsequent separation, as well as provide analysis of modeling sensitivities to input parameters and forcing, and, wherever possible, to understand and give a physical explanation of the underlying mechanisms. This involves validation against real-world data in cooperation with William S. Kessler and Hristina Hristova from PMEL (Solomon Sea), and Satoshi Mitarai and Taichi Sakagami from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (Kuroshio).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 30, 2014
- Accession Number
- ADA624858
Entities
People
- Alexander F Shchepetkin
- James C. McWilliams
- M. Jeroen Molemaker
Organizations
- University of California, Los Angeles