The model is set up as a reduced gravity model with four active upper layers in the upper 1000 m and an infinitely deep layer of constant density below. The average thickness of the four active layers are 80 m, 120 m, 250 m and 600 m.
A moderately high horizontal resolution of 1/4 by 1/4 deg is used and the model domain covers the area from 40 S to 40 N. The model is initialized using objectively analyzed annual mean temperature and salinity from the World Ocean Atlas 1994 (WOA94) described by Levitus et al. (1994) and Levitus and Boyer (1994). From this observed data set, an initial thickness is computed for each layer so that deep layers are quasi-isopycnal. The currents are initialized to be in geostrophic balance with the density field using a level of no motion defined by the depth to the inactive lowest layer, which is 1050~m on the average.
Along the northern and southern edge of the computational domain, a damped radiation condition for momentum is combined with a partial relaxation to observations (Jensen, 1997).
An integration with annual mean winds and restoring to
surface temperature (SST) and salinity (SSS) was done for the Pacific.
Below is the
Mixed Layer Temperature at day 360:
From a run with monthly mean ECMWF wind stress and
Levitus restoring to annual mean SST and SSS, the
subtropical front and a
wake around Hawaii are clearly visible:
The average mixed layer depth is 80 m, but varies from 20 m to 200 m.
The western Equatorial Pacific
from the same run:
This work is supported by U.S. Dept of Energy
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Tommy G. Jensen tjensen@hawaii.eduLast update: October 3, 1997