High-Latitude Deep Water Formation From a Synthesis of Sea-Ice and Ocean Data

A 50-year (1948-2000) integration of a quasi-global (80S-80N), coarse-resolution (2-deg horizontal grid-spacing, 23 vertical levels), coupled sea-ice, ocean-circulation model, constrained by hydrographic and passive microwave data, is used to quantify the formation of high-latitude bottom and intermediate waters. Sea-ice and ocean model parameters, for example, mixing coefficients, atmospheric and oceanic drag, and sea-ice strength, are constrained using a Green's function approach. Meteorological surface boundary conditions are from the NCEP (National Centers for Environmental Prediction) reanalysis, but with adjusted time-mean values. The resulting estimates of bottom and intermediate water formation are compared to CFC-11 data along key WOCE (World Ocean Circulation Experiment) sections.