Recorded presentation14.6
High-resolution simulations of air-sea interaction in the Mediterranean Sea
Richard Justin Orford Small, NRL, Stennis Space Center, MS; and T. A. Smith, T. Campbell, R. Allard, J. Dykes, and J. Teixeira
Recent studies have revealed significant air-sea interaction associated with atmospheric gap wind jets as well as ocean fronts and eddies. Here we investigate this using the Coupled Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Prediction System (COAMPSŪ), and the Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) in stand-alone and coupled modes. Both models are at high resolution: the inner nest of the COAMPS domain is on a 4 km grid with 30 vertical levels, and that for NCOM on a 2km grid with 50 levels. The focus is on the Adriatic Sea and the Ligurian Sea where experimental data is available for validation. Following on from Pullen et al (MWR 2006, JGR 2007), several Bora events are studied in the Northern Adriatic. We examine the sensitivity of the processes to grid resolution, and to the atmospheric surface layer scheme. In the Ligurian Sea in summer, surface winds are light except during occasional Alpine lee cyclogenesis events and also in the channel between Corsica and Sardinia. We discuss the impact of these events on the ocean circulation.
Session 14, Coupled ocean-atmosphere interactions and their contribution to climate variability on all time scales: Part 3
Thursday, 15 January 2009, 1:30 PM-3:00 PM, Room 128AB
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