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Detailed Reference Information |
Drillet, Y., Bourdallé-Badie, R., Siefridt, L. and Le Provost, C. (2005). Meddies in the Mercator North Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea eddy-resolving model. Journal of Geophysical Research 110: doi: 10.1029/2003JC002170. issn: 0148-0227. |
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The new generation of high-resolution ocean models offers a new way to investigate the characteristics and the evolution of the ocean mesoscale. An analysis of the simulated Mediterranean eddies, the so-called meddies, is presented. The model used in this study is the Mercator North Atlantic <9¿N, 70¿N> and Mediterranean Sea Prototype (PAM), a high-resolution configuration (3.5--8 km horizontal grid) based on the OPA ocean general circulation model. The meddies are coherent structures of warm and salt Mediterranean Water (MW) advected in the northeast Atlantic. A 5 year experiment performed with PAM reproduced the main observed characteristics of the meddies: thermohaline properties (11.8¿C, 36 psu), sizes (radius between 25 and 110 km), thickness (between 500 and 1000 m), westward advection velocities (1.4 cm.s-1), angular velocities (a period of 20 days), a good estimate of the number of meddies in the northeast Atlantic (~22), and their realistic geographical distribution (80% south of 40¿N). Moreover, and in agreement with a previous study based on an observation cruise, these modeled meddies represent half of the westward salinity transport of MW. |
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Abstract |
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Keywords
Oceanography, General, Numerical modeling (0545, 0560), Oceanography, General, Water masses, Oceanography, Physical, Currents, Oceanography, Physical, Eddies and mesoscale processes, Oceanography, Physical, Hydrodynamic modeling, meddy, Mediterranean Water, ocean model |
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Publisher
American Geophysical Union 2000 Florida Avenue N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009-1277 USA 1-202-462-6900 1-202-328-0566 service@agu.org |
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