References

Ocean Science

Ocean Sci.

1812-0792

Copernicus Publications

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/os-4-1-2008

A high-resolution free-surface model of the Mediterranean Sea

Tonani

¹ Pinardi

² Dobricic

³ Pujol

¹ Fratianni

Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Bologna, Italy

University of Bologna, Corso di Scienze Ambientali, Ravenna, Italy

Centro Euro-Mediterraneo per i Cambiamenti Climatici, Bologna, Italy

24 01 2008

4 1 1 14

2008

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Generic License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/

This article is available from https://os.copernicus.org/articles/4/1/2008/os-4-1-2008.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://os.copernicus.org/articles/4/1/2008/os-4-1-2008.pdf

This study describes a new model implementation for the Mediterranean Sea with what is currently the highest vertical resolution over the Mediterranean basin. The resolution is of 1/16°×1/16° in the horizontal and has 72 unevenly spaced vertical levels. This model has been developed in the frame of the EU-MFSTEP project and is the operational forecast model currently used at the basin scale. The model considers an implicit free surface and this characteristic enhances the model's capability to simulate the sea surface height variability and the net transport at the Strait of Gibraltar. In this study we show the calibration/validation experiments performed before and after the model was used for forecasting. The first experiment consists of a six-year simulation forced by a perpetual year forcing, and the other experiment is a simulation from January 1997 to December 2004, forcing the model with 6-h atmospheric forcing fields from ECMWF. The model Sea Level Anomaly has been compared for the first time with satellite SLA and with ARGO data to provide evidence of the quality of the simulation. The results show that this model is capable of reproducing most of the variability of the general circulation in the Mediterranean Sea. However, some basic model inadequacies stand out and should be corrected in the near future.

References 1

Beranger, K., Mortier, L., Gasparini, G. P., Gervasio, L., Astraldi, M., and Crepon, M.: The dynamics of the Sicily Strait: a comprehensive study from observations and model, Deep Sea Res. II, 51, 411–440, 2004.

Beranger, K., Mortier, L., and Crepon, M.: Seasonal variability of water transport through the Straits of Gibraltar, Sicily and Corsica, derived from a high-resolution model of the Mediterranean circulation, Prog. Ocean., 66, 341–364, 2005.

Castellari, S., Pinardi, N. and Leaman, K.: A model study of air-sea interactions in the Mediterranean Sea, J. Mar. Syst., 18, 89–114, 2000.

Demirov, E., Pinardi, N., Fratianni, C., Tonani, M., Giacomelli, L., and De Mey, P.: Assimilation scheme of the Mediterranean Forecasting System: operational implementation, Ann. Geophys., 21, 189–194, 2003.

Demirov, E. and PInardi, N.: The simulation of the Mediterranean Sea circulation from 1979 to 1993. Part I: The interannual variability, J. Mar Syst., 33–34, 23–50, 2002.

Dobricic, S., Pinardi, N., Adani, M., Tonani, M., Fratianni, C., Bonazzi, A., Fernandez, V.: Daily oceanographic analyses by the Mediterranean basin scale assimilation system, Ocean Sci., 3, 149–157, 2007.

Hellerman, S. and Rosestein, M.: Normal monthly wind stress over the world ocean with error estimates, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 13, 1093–1104, 1983.

Kalnay E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deeven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Wollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janoviak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewsy, C., Wang, J., Leetma Reynold, R., Jenne, R., and Joseph, D.: The NCEP/NCAR 40-Years Reanalysis Project, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 77, 437–471, 1996.

Korres, G., Pinardi, N., and Lascaratos, A.: The ocean response to low frequency interannual atmospheric variability in the Mediterranean Sea: Part I: Sensitivity experiments and energy analysis, J. Climate, 13, 705–731, 2000.

Korres, G. and Lascaratos, A.: A one-way nested, eddy resolving model of the Aegean and Levantine basins: Implementation and climatological runs, Ann. Geophys., 21, 1, 205–220, 2003.

Madec, G., Delecluse, P., Imbard, M., and Levy, C.: OPA8.1 Ocean general Circulation Model reference manual. Note du Pole de modelisazion, Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (IPSL), France, 11, 1998.

MEDAR/MEDATLAS Group: MEDAR/MEDATLAS 1998-2001 Mediterranean and Black Sea database of temperature, salinity and bio-chemical parameters and climatological atlas (4CDroms), European Commission Marine Science and Technology Programme, and internet server http://www.ifremer.fr/sismer/program/medarIFREMER/TMSI/IDM/SISMER Ed., Centre de Brest), 2002.

Millot, C. and Tapier-Letage, I.: Circulation in the Mediterranean Sea. Handbook of Environmental Chemistry, vol.5, Part K: 29-66, D=I 10.1007/b 107143, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, 2005.

Pinardi, N., Allen, I., Demirov, E., De Mey, P., Korres, G., Lascaratos, A., Le Traon, P. Y., Maillard, C., Manzella, G., and Tziavos, C.: The Mediterranean ocean Forecasting System~: first phase of implementation (1998–2001), Ann. Geophys., 21, 3–20, 2003.

Pinardi, N. and Masetti, E.: Variability of the large scale general circulation of the Mediterranean Sea from observations and modelling: a review, Palaeo, 158, 153–174, 2000.

Pinardi, N., Korres, G., Lascaratos, A., Roussenov, V., and Stanev, E.: Numerical simulation of the interannual variability of the Mediterranean Sea upper ocean circulation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 24, 425–428, 1997.

Pinardi, N., Arneri, E., Crise, A., Ravaioli, M., and Zavatarelli, M.: The physical and ecological structure and variability of shelf areas in the Mediterranean Sea, "The Sea", Vol. 14, Chapter 32, 2006.

Reed, R. K.: On estimating insolation over ocean, J. Phys. Oceanogr., 17, 854–871, 1977.

Robinson, A., Malanotte-Rizzoli, P., Hecht, A., Nichelato, A., Roether, W., Theocharis, A., Unluata, U., Pinardi, N., and the POEM Group: General circulation of the eastern Mediterranean, Earth Sci. Rev., 285–309, 1992.

Roullet, G. and Madec, G.: Salt conservation, free surface, and varying levels: a new formulation for ocean general circulation models, J. Geophys. Res., 105(C10), 23 927–23 942, 2000.

Sannino, G., Bargagli, A., and Artale, V.: Numerical modeling of the semidiurnal tide exchange through the Starti of Gibraltar, J. Geophys. Res., 107, C5011, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JC000929, 2002.

Treguier, A. M., Dukowicz, J. K., and Bryan, K.: Properties of nonuniform grid used in general circulation models, J. Geophys. Res., 101(C9), 20 877–20 881, 1996.