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Synthetic Float Analysis in HYCOM. Synthetic floats were released in an ocean model to study how the upper-limb (northward return flow) of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation crosses the equator and flows to high northern latitudes
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Synthetic Float Analysis in HYCOM • Synthetic floats were released in an ocean model to study how the upper-limb (northward return flow) of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation crosses the equator and flows to high northern latitudes • An animation of a subset of the released synthetic floats is presented in the file floats_carib_all.avi • Background information for this animation is presented in the subsequent slides
Properties of the HYCOM Simulation • Model Domain and Grid • Atlantic Ocean, 30S to 70N • 1.4 degrees horizontal resolution • 25 vertical layers • Forcing • NCEP/DOE reanalysis climatology • Some Model Properties • KPP vertical mixing • Simple energy loan ice model • Surface S relaxation to climatology • Relaxation b.c. at north and south • 30-year Spinup from Climatology • 10-year Simulation with Synthetic Floats
Synthetic Float Experiment • Synthetic Floats • Advected by 3-D Velocity Field • Interpolation to Float • Space – 2nd order polynomial • Time – 4th order Runga-Kutta • Southern Hemisphere Release Experiment • 7200 Floats Released • Domain • 5-14S, 28-32W • Horizontal Resolution • 1 degree in both longitude and latitude • Depths • 12 depths • 25 to 300 m at 25 m intervals • Release Times • Monthly during the first year of the 10-year integration • 600 per month
The Animation • Of the 7200 floats released in the southern hemisphere, 2646 eventually entered the Caribbean Sea during the 10-year integration • Floats entering the Caribbean represent fluid particles that flow from the southern hemisphere into the North Atlantic subtropical gyre flow to eventually reach high latitudes. • Selection of this subset of floats clearly illustrates pathways of the upper limb of the MOC • The animation is contained in the file floats_carib_all.avi • The depth of each float is indicated by color
Reference • Scientific details are contained in the paper “A Synthetic Float Analysis of Upper-Limb Meridional Overturning Circulation Interior Ocean Pathways in the Tropical/Subtropical Atlantic” by Halliwell, Weisberg, and Mayer • It is available on the HYCOM web page hycom.rsmas.miami.edu under “publications”