Resolution dependency of sinking Lagrangian particles in ocean general circulation models
Autor: | Nooteboom, P.D., Delandmeter, P.B., van Sebille, E., Bijl, P.K., Dijkstra, H.A., von der Heydt, A.S., Sub Physical Oceanography, Marine palynology and palaeoceanography, Marine and Atmospheric Research, Marine Palynology |
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Jazyk: | angličtina |
Rok vydání: | 2020 |
Předmět: |
Atmospheric Science
Salinity Internationality 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences Magnitude (mathematics) Marine and Aquatic Sciences Atmospheric sciences Oceanography 01 natural sciences Physical Chemistry Paleooceanography Oceans Physics::Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics Marine snow Climatology Multidisciplinary geography.geographical_feature_category Physics Simulation and Modeling Classical Mechanics Current (stream) Physics - Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics Chemistry Physical Sciences Medicine Geology Research Article Science Oceans and Seas Mesoscale meteorology FOS: Physical sciences Fluid Mechanics Research and Analysis Methods Continuum Mechanics Ocean gyre Water Movements Computer Simulation 14. Life underwater Paleoclimatology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences geography 010505 oceanography Biology and Life Sciences Paleontology Fluid Dynamics Models Theoretical Bodies of Water Flow Field General Circulation Models Eddy Chemical Properties 13. Climate action Temporal resolution Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics (physics.ao-ph) Earth Sciences Particle Paleobiology Climate Modeling |
Zdroj: | PLoS ONE PLoS ONE, Vol 15, Iss 9, p e0238650 (2020) PLOS ONE PLoS One, 15(9). Public Library of Science |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
Popis: | Any type of non-buoyant material in the ocean is transported horizontally by currents during its sinking journey. This lateral transport can be far from negligible for small sinking velocities. To estimate its magnitude and direction, the material is often modelled as a set of Lagrangian particles advected by current velocities that are obtained from Ocean General Circulation Models (OGCMs). State-of-the-art OGCMs are strongly eddying, similar to the real ocean, providing results with a spatial resolution on the order of 10 km on a daily frequency. While the importance of eddies in OGCMs is well-appreciated in the physical oceanographic community, other marine research communities may not. Further, many long term climate modelling simulations (e.g. in paleoclimate) rely on lower spatial resolution models that do not capture mesoscale features. To demonstrate how much the absence of mesoscale features in low-resolution models influences the Lagrangian particle transport, we simulate the transport of sinking Lagrangian particles using low- and high-resolution global OGCMs, and assess the lateral transport differences resulting from the difference in spatial and temporal model resolution. We find major differences between the transport in the non-eddying OGCM and in the eddying OGCM. Addition of stochastic noise to the particle trajectories in the non-eddying OGCM parameterises the effect of eddies well in some cases (e.g. in the North Pacific gyre). The effect of a coarser temporal resolution (once every 5 days versus monthly) is smaller compared to a coarser spatial resolution (0.1° versus 1° horizontally). We recommend to use sinking Lagrangian particles, representing e.g. marine snow, microplankton or sinking plastic, only with velocity fields from eddying Eulerian OGCMs, requiring high-resolution models in e.g. paleoceanographic studies. To increase the accessibility of our particle trace simulations, we launch planktondrift.science.uu.nl, an online tool to reconstruct the surface origin of sedimentary particles in a specific location. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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