OSD Ocean Science Discussions OSD Ocean Sci. Discuss. 1812-0822 Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/osd-3-637-2006 Central Mediterranean Sea forecast: effects of high-resolution atmospheric forcings Natale S. 1 Sorgente R. 2 Gaberšek S. 3 1 Ribotti A. 2 Olita A. 2 iMC – International Marine Centre, Loc. Sa Mardini, 09170 Oristano, Italy IAMC/CNR-Istituto Ambiente Marino Costiero, Sede di Oristano, c/o IMC – International Marine Centre, Loc. Sa Mardini, 09170 Oristano, Italy now at: University of Ljubljana, Department of Mathematics and Physics, Jadranska 19, Ljubljana, 1000-SI, Slovenia 28 06 2006 3 3 637 669 Copyright: © 2006 S. Natale et al. 2006 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/preprints/3/637/2006/osd-3-637-2006.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://os.copernicus.org/preprints/3/637/2006/osd-3-637-2006.pdf

Ocean forecasts over the Central Mediterranean, produced by a near real time regional scale system, have been evaluated in order to assess their predictability. The ocean circulation model has been forced at the surface by a medium, high or very high resolution atmospheric forcing. The simulated ocean parameters have been compared with satellite data and they were found to be generally in good agreement. High and very high resolution atmospheric forcings have been able to form noticeable, although short-lived, surface current structures, due to their ability to detect transient atmospheric disturbances. The existence of the current structures has not been directly assessed due to lack of measurements. The ocean model in the slave mode was not able to develop dynamics different from the driving coarse resolution model which provides the boundary conditions.