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Impact of horizontal resolution (1/12 to 1/50 degree) on Gulf Stream separation and penetration in a series of North Atlantic HYCOM numerical simulations

Speaker: Eric Chassignet [Announcement (PDF)]
Speaker Affiliation: Director, Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies
Professor of Oceanography, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science
Florida State University

Date: Thursday April 28, 2016 at 12 p.m in 37-212
CCE Seminar

Abstract The impact of horizontal resolution (1/12 to 1/50 degree) on Gulf Stream separation and penetration is analyzed in a series of identical North Atlantic HYCOM configurations. The specific questions that will be addressed are as follows: When does a solution converge or is “good enough”? Are the mesoscale and sub-mesoscale eddy activity representative of interior quasigeostrophic (QG) or surface quasigeostrophic (SQG) turbulence? How well do the simulations compare to observations? We will show that the increase in resolution (1/50 degree) does lead to a substantial improvement in the Gulf Stream representation (surface and interior) when compared to observations and the results will be discussed in terms of ageostrophic contributions and power spectra.