Parameterization of Submesoscale Particle Transport in the Gulf of Mexico

Angelique C Haza, University of Miami, Ocean Sciences, Miami, FL, United States, Tamay M Ozgokmen, University of Miami, Miami, FL, United States, Annalisa Griffa, ISMAR, CNR, Lerici, Italy, Andrew C Poje, The City University of New York, Department of Mathematics, College Staten Island, Staten Island, United States, Patrick J Hogan, Stennis Space Ctr, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States and Gregg A. Jacobs, Naval Research Laboratory, Ocean Sciences Division, Stennis Space Center, MS, United States
Abstract:
Submesoscale flows have a significant impact on the transport at their own scales, yet require extensive data sets and numerical computations, making them challenging to approach deterministically. A recent Lagrangian parametrization to correct particle transport at the submesoscales is implemented to an eddy permitting ocean model at 1/25 degree grid for the surface circulation of the Gulf of Mexico. It combines mesoscale transport from the deterministic Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS) and statistical Lagrangian subgridscale (LSGS) models over the submesoscale range. Comparison to a 1km submesoscale-permitting ocean model shows a significant improvement of the scale-dependent relative dispersion and particle distribution.
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