Resolving and Parameterising the Ocean Mesoscale in Earth System Models
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ADVANCES AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS IN EARTH SYSTEM MODELLING (I SIMPSON, SECTION EDITOR)
Resolving and Parameterising the Ocean Mesoscale in Earth System Models Helene T. Hewitt 1 & Malcolm Roberts 1 & Pierre Mathiot 1 & Arne Biastoch 2 & Ed Blockley 1 & Eric P. Chassignet 3 & Baylor Fox-Kemper 4 & Pat Hyder 1 & David P. Marshall 5 & Ekaterina Popova 6 & Anne-Marie Treguier 7 & Laure Zanna 8 & Andrew Yool 6 & Yongqiang Yu 9,10 & Rebecca Beadling 11 & Mike Bell 1 & Till Kuhlbrodt 12 & Thomas Arsouze 13 & Alessio Bellucci 14 & Fred Castruccio 15,16 & Bolan Gan 17,16 & Dian Putrasahan 18 & Christopher D. Roberts 19 & Luke Van Roekel 20 & Qiuying Zhang 21,16 Accepted: 14 September 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Purpose of Review Assessment of the impact of ocean resolution in Earth System models on the mean state, variability, and future projections and discussion of prospects for improved parameterisations to represent the ocean mesoscale. Recent Findings The majority of centres participating in CMIP6 employ ocean components with resolutions of about 1 degree in their full Earth System models (eddy-parameterising models). In contrast, there are also models submitted to CMIP6 (both DECK and HighResMIP) that employ ocean components of approximately 1/4 degree and 1/10 degree (eddy-present and eddy-rich models). Evidence to date suggests that whether the ocean mesoscale is explicitly represented or parameterised affects not only the mean state of the ocean but also the climate variability and the future climate response, particularly in terms of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and the Southern Ocean. Recent developments in scale-aware parameterisations of the mesoscale are being developed and will be included in future Earth System models. Summary Although the choice of ocean resolution in Earth System models will always be limited by computational considerations, for the foreseeable future, this choice is likely to affect projections of climate variability and change as well as other aspects of the Earth System. Future Earth System models will be able to choose increased ocean resolution and/or improved parameterisation of processes to capture physical processes with greater fidelity. Keywords Ocean models . Resolution . Parameterisation . Mesoscale . Submesoscale
Introduction The Earth System is inherently coupled, but ocean heat uptake determines the Earth’s energy budget [1] and global sea level rise [2]. The ocean has a key role linking to other parts of the Earth System, e.g. sea surface temperatures (SSTs) affect atmospheric circulation and precipitation [3], ocean circulation This article is part of the Topical Collection on Advances and Future Directions in Earth System Modelling * Helene T. Hewitt [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
[4] and biogeochemistry [5] determine the flux of carbon between the oceanic and atmospheric reservoirs, and upper ocean temperatures and circulation influence sea ice properties and dynamics
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