1. October 23-26, 2012: AOMIP/FAMOS meetings
Workshop #16
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole
  Simulation of the variability of the Atlantic Water circulation in the Arctic Ocean: Model sensitivity studies
Elena Golubeva
Institute of Computational Mathematics and
Mathematical Geophysics, SB RAS
Novosibirsk, Russia

2. Atlantic Waters enter the Arctic ocean through the Fram Strait and Barents Sea and bring warm and salty water into the Arctic Ocean forming the so-called Atlantic layer.
Currently assumed (after Rudels et al.,1994) that Atlantic waters in the Arctic move in the cyclonic sense as a boundary current topographically steered along continental slope and ridges. However, the numerous observational data collected during the last decades do not answer the question about the stability of this path.
Are there other possible pathways of the Atlantic water?
How important are the exchange processes between the boundary current and the interior of the Arctic Ocean or the arctic shelves?

3. Numerical model can be powerful tool for the circulation investigation, but first we are not sure that it simulates the correct circulation. According to our modeling experience numerical results are very sensitive to
Atmosphere forcing
Numerical grid resolution
Sub-grid processes parameterization
Advection numerical scheme
Initial T-S-condition

4. CICE 3.14 ICMMG regional ocean model
Atmosphere forcing NCEP/NCAR, CORE1,CORE2,……..
CICE 3.14
ICMMG regional ocean model

5. RUN
Atm.Forcing- CORE2,
PHC for initial T and S
Numerical grid:
34-50км , 32 vertical levels

6. ?

8. Averaged over region temperature change during the numerical run.
What was wrong with 1985?

9. 100 m 400 m 1000 m Back to the historical data
Arctic circulation based on the density observational data for A.F.Treshnikov,G.I.Baranov,1972

10. Sensitivity to numerical grid resolution
34-50км ,
32 vertical levels
14-19км
38 vertical levels

11. 14-19км
38 vertical levels

17. Numerical grid resolution:
34-50км , км vertical levels vertical levels
Temperature and velocity distribution at the depth of 400 m for 1975.

18. The AW circulation path in numerical model based on the coarse numerical grid is very unstable.
Temperature distribution in the Atlantic layer is very sensitive to the numerical grid resolution.
The main direction of the AW path in numerical model used km resolution is similar to results for km resolution.
Thank you!
Проблемы моделей