Challenges and Prospects in Ocean Circulation Models

Type Article
Date 2019-02
Language English
Author(s) Fox-Kemper Baylor1, Adcroft Alistair2, 3, Boening Claus W.4, Chassignet Eric P.5, Curchitser Enrique6, Danabasoglu Gokhan7, Eden Carsten8, England Matthew H.9, Gerdes Ruediger10, 11, Greatbatch Richard J.4, Griffies Stephen M.2, 3, Hallberg Robert W.2, 3, Hanert Emmanuel12, Heimbach Patrick13, 14, Hewitt Helene T.15, Hill Christopher N.16, Komuro Yoshiki17, Legg Sonya2, 3, Le Sommer Julien18, Masina Simona19, Marsland Simon J.9, 20, 21, Penny Stephen G.22, 23, 24, Qiao Fangli25, Ringler Todd D.26, Treguier Anne-Marie27, Tsujino Hiroyuki28, Uotila Petteri29, Yeager Stephen G.7
Affiliation(s) 1 : Brown Univ, Dept Earth Environm & Planetary Sci, Providence, RI 02912 USA.
2 : Princeton Univ, Atmospher & Ocean Sci Program, Princeton, NJ 08544 USA.
3 : NOAA, Geophys Fluid Dynam Lab, Princeton, NJ USA.
4 : GEOMAR Helmholtz Ctr Ocean Res Kiel, Kiel, Germany.
5 : Florida State Univ, Ctr Ocean Atmospher Predict Studies, Tallahassee, FL 32306 USA.
6 : Rutgers State Univ, Dept Environm Sci, New Brunswick, NJ USA.
7 : Natl Ctr Atmospher Res, POB 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 USA.
8 : Univ Hamburg, Theoret Oceanog, Hamburg, Germany.
9 : Univ New South Wales, Australian Res Council Ctr Excellence Climate Ext, Climate Change Res Ctr, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
10 : Alfred Wegener Inst Polar & Marine Res, Bremerhaven, Germany.
11 : Jacobs Univ, Bremen, Germany.
12 : Catholic Univ Louvain, Earth & Life Inst, Louvain La Neuve, Belgium.
13 : Univ Texas Austin, Oden Inst Computat Engn & Sci, Austin, TX 78712 USA.
14 : Jackson Sch Geosci, Austin, TX USA.
15 : Met Off, Exeter, Devon, England.
16 : MIT, Dept Earth Atmospher & Planetary Sci, Cambridge, MA USA.
17 : Japan Agcy Marine Earth Sci & Technol, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan.
18 : Univ Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, IRD, Grenoble INR,IGE, Grenoble, France.
19 : Ist Nazl Geofis & Vulcanol, CMCC, Bologna, Italy.
20 : CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Battery Point, Tas, Australia.
21 : Univ Tasmania, ACE CRC, Inst Marine & Antarctic Studies, Hobart, Tas, Australia.
22 : Univ Maryland, Dept Atmospher & Ocean Sci, College Pk, MD 20742 USA.
23 : NOAA, Natl Ctr Environm Predict, Ctr Weather & Climate Predict, College Pk, MD USA.
24 : RIKEN Adv Inst Computat Sci, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan.
25 : Minist Nat Resources, Inst Oceanog 1, Qingdao, Peoples R China.
26 : Los Alamos Natl Lab, Theoret Div, Los Alamos, NM USA.
27 : IUEM, CNRS IFREMER IRD UBO, Lab Oceanog Phys & Spatiale, Plouzane, France.
28 : JMA Meteorol Res Inst, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
29 : Univ Helsinki, Inst Atmospher & Earth Syst Res, Phys, Helsinki, Finland.
Source Frontiers In Marine Science (2296-7745) (Frontiers Media Sa), 2019-02 , Vol. 6 , N. 65 , P. 29p.
DOI 10.3389/fmars.2019.00065
WOS© Times Cited 127
Keyword(s) ocean circulation, model, parameterization, climate, ocean processes
Abstract

We revisit the challenges and prospects for ocean circulation models following Griffies et al. (2010). Over the past decade, ocean circulation models evolved through improved understanding, numerics, spatial discretization, grid configurations, parameterizations, data assimilation, environmental monitoring, and process-level observations and modeling. Important large scale applications over the last decade are simulations of the Southern Ocean, the Meridional Overturning Circulation and its variability, and regional sea level change. Submesoscale variability is now routinely resolved in process models and permitted in a few global models, and submesoscale effects are parameterized in most global models. The scales where nonhydrostatic effects become important are beginning to be resolved in regional and process models. Coupling to sea ice, ice shelves, and high-resolution atmospheric models has stimulated new ideas and driven improvements in numerics. Observations have provided insight into turbulence and mixing around the globe and its consequences are assessed through perturbed physics models. Relatedly, parameterizations of the mixing and overturning processes in boundary layers and the ocean interior have improved. New diagnostics being used for evaluating models alongside present and novel observations are briefly referenced. The overall goal is summarizing new developments in ocean modeling, including: how new and existing observations can be used, what modeling challenges remain, and how simulations can be used to support observations.

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Fox-Kemper Baylor, Adcroft Alistair, Boening Claus W., Chassignet Eric P., Curchitser Enrique, Danabasoglu Gokhan, Eden Carsten, England Matthew H., Gerdes Ruediger, Greatbatch Richard J., Griffies Stephen M., Hallberg Robert W., Hanert Emmanuel, Heimbach Patrick, Hewitt Helene T., Hill Christopher N., Komuro Yoshiki, Legg Sonya, Le Sommer Julien, Masina Simona, Marsland Simon J., Penny Stephen G., Qiao Fangli, Ringler Todd D., Treguier Anne-Marie, Tsujino Hiroyuki, Uotila Petteri, Yeager Stephen G. (2019). Challenges and Prospects in Ocean Circulation Models. Frontiers In Marine Science, 6(65), 29p. Publisher's official version : https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2019.00065 , Open Access version : https://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00488/59989/