An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS)
<p>Internal solitary waves (ISWs) are a ubiquitous phenomenon in the dynamic ocean system, which play a crucial role in driving transport through turbulent mixing. Over the past few decades, numerical modelling has become a vital approach to investigate the generation mechanism and spatial dis...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Geoscientific Model Development |
| Online Access: | https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/16/2851/2023/gmd-16-2851-2023.pdf |
| _version_ | 1797820329968533504 |
|---|---|
| author | Y. Gong X. Chen J. Xu J. Xie Z. Chen Y. He S. Cai S. Cai S. Cai |
| author_facet | Y. Gong X. Chen J. Xu J. Xie Z. Chen Y. He S. Cai S. Cai S. Cai |
| author_sort | Y. Gong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <p>Internal solitary waves (ISWs) are a ubiquitous
phenomenon in the dynamic ocean system, which play a crucial role in driving
transport through turbulent mixing. Over the past few decades, numerical
modelling has become a vital approach to investigate the generation mechanism
and spatial distribution of ISWs. The northern South China Sea (NSCS) has
been treated as a physical oceanographic focus of ISWs in massive numerical
studies since the last century. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of a reliable three-dimensional (3D) model about accurately reproducing ISW
characteristics in the NSCS. In this study, we implement a 3D ISW
forecasting model in the NSCS and quantitatively evaluate the requirements
of factors (i.e. model resolution, tidal forcing, and stratification
selection) in accurately depicting ISW properties by comparison with
observational data at a mooring station in the vicinity of the Dongsha
Atoll. Firstly, the 500 m resolution model can basically reproduce the
principal ISW characteristics, while the 250 m resolution model would be a
better solution to identify wave properties, specifically increasing 40 %
accuracy of predicting characteristic half-widths. Nonetheless, a 250 m resolution model spends nearly 5-fold the computational resources of a 500 m resolution model in the same model domain. Compared with the former two,
the model with a lower resolution of 1000 m severely underestimates the
nonlinearity of ISWs, resulting in an incorrect ISW field in the NSCS.
Secondly, the model with 8 (or 13) primary tidal constituents can
accurately reproduce the real ISW field in the NSCS, while the one with four
main harmonics (M2, S2, K1 and O1) would underestimate averaged wave-induced
velocity for about 38 % and averaged mode-1 wave amplitude for about
15 %. Thirdly, the model with the initial condition of field-extracted
stratification gives a better performance in predicting some wave properties
than the model with climatological stratification, namely 13 % improvement
of arrival time and 46 % improvement of characteristic half-width.
Finally, background currents, spatially varying stratification and external
(wind) forcing are discussed to reproduce a more realistic ISW field in the
future numerical simulations.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:36:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d6f6c49f478143b4b977a1088ed61032 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1991-959X 1991-9603 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:36:49Z |
| publishDate | 2023-05-01 |
| publisher | Copernicus Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geoscientific Model Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-d6f6c49f478143b4b977a1088ed610322023-05-25T11:43:12ZengCopernicus PublicationsGeoscientific Model Development1991-959X1991-96032023-05-01162851287110.5194/gmd-16-2851-2023An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS)Y. Gong0X. Chen1J. Xu2J. Xie3Z. Chen4Y. He5S. Cai6S. Cai7S. Cai8State Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, ChinaCollege of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, ChinaState Key Laboratory of Tropical Oceanography, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, ChinaInstitution of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510301, ChinaCollege of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China<p>Internal solitary waves (ISWs) are a ubiquitous phenomenon in the dynamic ocean system, which play a crucial role in driving transport through turbulent mixing. Over the past few decades, numerical modelling has become a vital approach to investigate the generation mechanism and spatial distribution of ISWs. The northern South China Sea (NSCS) has been treated as a physical oceanographic focus of ISWs in massive numerical studies since the last century. However, there has been no systematic evaluation of a reliable three-dimensional (3D) model about accurately reproducing ISW characteristics in the NSCS. In this study, we implement a 3D ISW forecasting model in the NSCS and quantitatively evaluate the requirements of factors (i.e. model resolution, tidal forcing, and stratification selection) in accurately depicting ISW properties by comparison with observational data at a mooring station in the vicinity of the Dongsha Atoll. Firstly, the 500 m resolution model can basically reproduce the principal ISW characteristics, while the 250 m resolution model would be a better solution to identify wave properties, specifically increasing 40 % accuracy of predicting characteristic half-widths. Nonetheless, a 250 m resolution model spends nearly 5-fold the computational resources of a 500 m resolution model in the same model domain. Compared with the former two, the model with a lower resolution of 1000 m severely underestimates the nonlinearity of ISWs, resulting in an incorrect ISW field in the NSCS. Secondly, the model with 8 (or 13) primary tidal constituents can accurately reproduce the real ISW field in the NSCS, while the one with four main harmonics (M2, S2, K1 and O1) would underestimate averaged wave-induced velocity for about 38 % and averaged mode-1 wave amplitude for about 15 %. Thirdly, the model with the initial condition of field-extracted stratification gives a better performance in predicting some wave properties than the model with climatological stratification, namely 13 % improvement of arrival time and 46 % improvement of characteristic half-width. Finally, background currents, spatially varying stratification and external (wind) forcing are discussed to reproduce a more realistic ISW field in the future numerical simulations.</p>https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/16/2851/2023/gmd-16-2851-2023.pdf |
| spellingShingle | Y. Gong X. Chen J. Xu J. Xie Z. Chen Y. He S. Cai S. Cai S. Cai An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS) Geoscientific Model Development |
| title | An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS) |
| title_full | An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS) |
| title_fullStr | An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS) |
| title_full_unstemmed | An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS) |
| title_short | An internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern South China Sea (ISWFM-NSCS) |
| title_sort | internal solitary wave forecasting model in the northern south china sea iswfm nscs |
| url | https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/16/2851/2023/gmd-16-2851-2023.pdf |
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