Challenges and Prospects in Ocean Circulation Models

Baylor Fox-Kemper (1) , Alistair Adcroft , Claus Böning (2) , Eric Chassignet (3) , Enrique Curchitser (4) , Gokhan Danabasoglu (5) , Carsten Eden , Matthew M England (6) , Rüdiger Gerdes (7) , Richard J Greatbatch (8) , Stephen M Griffies (9) , Robert W Hallberg , Emmanuel Hanert (10) , Patrick Heimbach , Helene T Hewitt , Christopher N Hill , Yoshiki Komuro , Sonya Legg , Julien Le Sommer (11) , Simona Masina (12) , Simon J Marsland , Stephen G Penny , Fangli Qiao , Todd D Ringler , Anne Marie Treguier (13) , Hiroyuki Tsujino (14) , Petteri Uotila (15) , Stephen G Yeager (5)

1 Brown University
2 IFM-GEOMAR - Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften
3 COAPS - Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies
4 Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences
5 NCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research [Boulder]
6 Coventry University
7 AWI - Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung = Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research = Institut Alfred-Wegener pour la recherche polaire et marine
8 GEOMAR - Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research [Kiel]
9 GFDL - NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
10 ELI - Earth and Life Institute [Louvain-La-Neuve]
11 IGE - Institut des Géosciences de l’Environnement
12 INGV - Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Sezione di Catania
13 IFREMER - Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer
14 MRI - Meteorological Research Institute [Tsukuba]
15 CAWCR - Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research

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 Fox-Kemper et al. Ocean Circulation 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.

Mots clés: ocean circulation; model; parameterization; climate; ocean processes

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]; Océan, Atmosphère

Baylor Fox-Kemper, Alistair Adcroft, Claus Böning, Eric Chassignet, Enrique Curchitser, et al.. Challenges and Prospects in Ocean Circulation Models. Frontiers in Marine Science, 2019, 6, ⟨10.3389/fmars.2019.00065⟩. ⟨hal-02379810⟩