Masahiro ENDOH

Meteorological Research Institute, Japan


The ocean modeling group in MRI has an operational assignment to develop a numerical general circulation model for climate and climate variations with from a month to 100 years time scales. Toward this, we developed an ocean general circulation model with features similar to the Bryan-Cox model , with slope-advective bottom topography scheme, turbulent closure and iso/diapycnal mixing schemes for the non-eddy resolving version.

It was applied to the modeling of the North Pacific Intermediate Water formation, where importance of both the intermediate circulation and the subgrid-scale isopycnal mixing upon spreading of low salinity water from the marginal seas are confirmed by direct comparison with observed three dimensional structures of salinity/density, CFC (2° x 1° x 28 levels, North Pacific, Yamanaka et al., 1996) . Basin scale change of the subarctic/subtropical surface waters and circulations is also revealed, associated with interdecadal climate shifts in the recent 30 years, by the OGCM study with prescribed climate change (Endoh et al., 1994). Analysis of the 150 years run of the global coupled atmosphere-ocean GCM also indicates that the tropical coupled interdecadal change of ENSO is responsible to the Pacific upper ocean change (Yukimoto et al., 1996), mostly through the atmospheric climate change.

A global 1° x 1° x 100 levels OGCM is also developed by Ishizaki (1996) for detailed comparison with observed pathways and transport of global deep and bottom waters , providing that the n/s arctic water mass formations are assimilated to the observed climatology in the model. Maps of the 14C and CFC simulations are available for any direct hydrographic/chemical observations. Endoh et al. have a plan to work on mixing problems by an eddy-resolving GCM model, in the Pacific intermediate and deep waters during the next phase of WOCE.


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