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On The Seasonal Mixed Layer Simulated By A Basin-Scale Ocean Model And The Mellor-Yamada Turbulence Scheme, Tal Ezer

CCPO Publications

Seasonal changes and vertical mixing processes in the upper layers of the North Atlantic Ocean are simulated with a basin-scale sigma coordinate ocean model that uses the Mellor-Yamada turbulence closure scheme. The cause of insufficient surface mixing and a too shallow summertime thermocline, common problems of ocean models of this type, is investigated in detail by performing a series of sensitivity experiments with different surface forcing conditions and different turbulence parameterizations. A recent improvement in the parameterization of the dissipation term in the Mellor-Yamada turbulence scheme, which has shown a significant improvement in one-dimensional calculations, had a positive but relatively …