This model was set up during a visit to ICCH at the Danish Hydraulic Institute and has 3 layers. The deepest includes bottom topography. The initial average thickness of the layers are 75 m, 125 m, and 1000 m.
The horizontal resolution is 1/6 deg in longitude by 1/12 deg in latitude (4.12 - 9.17 km) and the model domain covers the area from 45 W to 15 E and 60 N to 77 N. A calculation with diagnostic (prescribed) temperature and salinity and annual mean wind stress from Hellerman and Rosenstein (1984) was used to integrate the model for 180 days. The run was made using a time step of 120 sec and a gravity wave retardation (GWR) factor of 1/256 (see Jensen, 1996 ).
It was mainly a test to see if TOMS would give a reasonably good circulation even in the presence of steep bottom topography and highly variable layer thickness. The actual layer thickness varied from 20 m - 150 m in the mixed layer, from 20 m - 400 m in layer 2, and, due to bottom topography, from 90 m to 3000 m in layer 3.
Here are the
mixed layer depth anomaly and currents:
The narrow East Greenland Coastal Current is fairly well resolved as is the Norwegian Coastal Current. The deep flow is strongest over the shelf areas.
The gap through the Denmark Strait is small,
and only a narrow southward flow is found in the
deepest
part of the sill
This work is supported by U.S. Dept of Energy through grant DE-FG03-96ER62167 to Colorado State University and by the Danish Research Foundation that funds ICCH.
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Tommy G. Jensen tjensen@hawaii.eduLast update: October 29, 1997
