Nesting operational forecasting models in the Eastern Mediterranean: active and slave mode

Abstract. Modern ocean operational systems involve different groups and tools, in different regions and scales. Blending all these in a unique system with reliable forecasting capabilities is an important task. The efficiency of nesting procedures between different scale and resolution models are crucial in determining whether the dynamics at the different scales are well represented at each level or the nesting technique suppresses the dynamical features emerging from individual modelling components. In the present work, we investigate the role of the initialization of telescopically nested and with double horizontal resolution forecasting systems in the Eastern Mediterranean, comparing the results between weekly initialized experiments ("slave'' mode) and "free'' runs ("active'' mode) at the regional (Aegean-Levantine area) and shelf (Cyprus) scale. It is found that, although the main circulation pattern remains similar, the differences in the domain mean kinetic energy between the "slave'' and the "active'' experiments in the Aegean-Levantine region are large in both September 2004 and January 2005, with the "active'' being much more energetic, while in the Cyprus area differences are significantly smaller. The most pronounced differences in the circulation and sea surface temperature and salinity fields are observed in the Aegean Sea, during September 2004, related to the inflow and spreading of the Black Sea Water, and the Rhodes Gyre, during January 2005, related to small-scale eddy activity developed and surviving in the "active'' mode experiment that decreases the area of the gyre.