Modeling of ocean dynamics with large variations in sea level

Abstract

The formulation and the algorithm of solving an ocean model for the prediction and assimilation of the observed data which makes it possible to reconstruct the circulation in the deep-water parts of the sea and at a shallow water shelf, as well as to describe the large time–space variability in the surface level, are considered. The model uses a vertical hybrid σ–z coordinate system: the several upper tens of meters of the ocean are described in the σ-coordinate system and the rest of the water column is described in the z coordinates. Such hybridization extends the possibilities of models for reconstructing thermo-hydrodynamic processes in different sea basins and the World Ocean. The differential formulation of the model in the σ–z coordinate system is presented; the simplified records of several operators that are allowable in the case of a small thickness of the ocean σ-layer are described. The construction of a computational grid, approximation of the bottom topography on it, and discretization of equations and boundary conditions of the models are considered; an approach to describing the bottom friction at shallow waters is offered. The results of the comparative experiments in the z and σ–z coordinate models are analyzed.