The impact of freshwater discharges on the ocean circulation in the Skagerrak/northern North Sea area Part I: model validation |
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| Authors: | Lars Petter Røed Jon Albretsen |
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| Institution: | (1) Norwegian Meteorological Institute, P.O. Box 43, Blindern, 0313 Oslo, Norway |
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| Abstract: | We assess the performance of an eddy-recognizing numerical ocean model in simulating the pattern and variability of the hydrography
in the Skagerrak/northern North Sea area. The model we use is a version of the widely used Princeton ocean model employing
a terrain-following vertical coordinate. Results from a series of five multi-year simulations of the mesoscale response are
described. The simulations differ in their representation of the lateral freshwater supply to the model ocean of which the
first is a reference simulation. The next four are variations in which the river discharges and/or the Baltic outflow are
given more realistic representations. For validation, we have used in situ hydrographic data. A novelty is that we use the
concepts of freshwater height and potential energy anomaly as objective validation tools. We find that, in general, the model
faithfully reproduces many of the observed hydrographic features including their mean patterns and their variance. Not surprisingly,
we find that the Baltic outflow is by far the most significant freshwater source in terms of its influence on the hydrography
in the area, a result corroborating earlier findings. The best validation is obtained when all freshwater supply is made as
realistic as possible, in particular the Baltic outflow. We also find that the large scale cyclonic circulation and the location
of fronts are robust characteristics of the Skagerrak/northern North Sea circulation given the impact changes in the freshwater
input has on the hydrography. Finally, we find that a further exploration of the impact of the lateral open boundary forcing,
e.g., the input of Atlantic water, is needed. |
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| Keywords: | Hydrography Validation River runoff Skagerrak |
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