The impact of 3D non-hydrostatic phenomena on the upper ocean physical and biogeochemical state

Christopher N Hill, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States, Ali Ramadhan, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, EAPS, Cambridge, United States, Jean-Michel Campin, M.I.T./EAPS, Cambridge, United States, Oliver Jahn, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Cambridge, United States and Gregory LeClaire Wagner, Scripps Institute of Oceanography, La Jolla, CA, United States
Abstract:
The impact of 3D non-hydrostatic phenomena on the upper ocean physical and biogeochemical state of a sub-mesoscale resolving model covering the Hawaii region is investigated. Using Oceananigans, an open-source GPU-enabled ocean model optimized for simple geometries that utilizes large eddy simulation to resolve sub-grid scale motions, we embed high-resolution non-hydrostatic models into a larger scale, but still sub-mesoscale resolving, hydrostatic model at 1/48° resolution. This nested setup is used to examine the effects of fine scale processes including internal tides, wintertime convective plumes and wind induced internal waves. These are not normally resolved even in very high resolution hydrostatic models. We compare physical and biogeochemical simulations with and without the embedded non-hydrostatic model and look for evidence of systematic differences that project onto the upscale solution.
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