Effect of resolution on heat and carbon dynamics in a regional ocean circulation model for the Argentine Basin

Stan Swierczek, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, Matthew R Mazloff, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UCSD, La Jolla, United States, Matthias Morzfeld, University of Arizona, Department of Mathematics, Tucson, AZ, United States and Joellen L Russell, University of Arizona, Department of Geosciences, Tucson, AZ, United States
Abstract:
The Argentine Basin is a region of strong currents and turbulent mixing of subpolar and subtropical waters, with large uncertainties surrounding integrated quantities such as air-sea exchanges of heat and carbon. We construct a regional ocean model with biogeochemistry at 1/3, 1/6, and 1/12 degree resolutions for the year 2017 and use initial conditions and boundary forcing from BSOSE (the Biogeochemical Southern Ocean State Estimate) and atmospheric forcing from ERA5. Model output is compared against Argo and SOCCOM float profiles, the OOI (Ocean Observatories Initiative) Argentine Basin Mooring Array, sea surface height maps, and BSOSE. We quantify the effect of resolution both on misfit to these products and on model upper ocean heat and carbon content and the associated air-sea exchanges.
Back to: Processes Affecting Air-Sea Exchange and the Biogeochemistry of the Upper Ocean I