Vertical Resolution in Global HYCOM

Abstract

Vertical Resolution in Global HYCOMStewart et. al. (2017) recently studied vertical resolution in eddy resolving z-level ocean models. They concluded that the vertical grid needs to resolve the same baroclinic modes as the horizontal grid, which implies 75 carefully chosen z-levels at 1/12 degrees and 125-150 at 1/25 degrees. The Navys global HYCOM setup initially had 32 hybrid layers in the vertical, and this was increased to 41 layers by adding 9 near surface fixed depth layers so that the top 81 m of the water column is always either terrain following or on z-levels. The same 41 layers are used at 1/12 degrees and at 1/25 degrees. We propose a systematic study of vertical resolution in HYCOM, with particular focus on configurations that would be suitable for future GOFS and Navy ESPC global prediction products. This will include both the original 2nd order horizontal numerics and the newly available 3rd order accurate split-QUICK momentum option.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Aug 31, 2020
Source ID
N000142012769

Entities

People

  • Xiaobiao Xu

Organizations

  • Florida State University
  • Office of Naval Research
  • United States Navy

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Computational Modeling and Simulation
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers