On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective

Thesis (S.M.)--Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2008.

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Wang, Jinbo, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Other Authors: Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli.
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
Published: Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45723
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author Wang, Jinbo, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author2 Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli.
author_facet Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli.
Wang, Jinbo, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
author_sort Wang, Jinbo, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
collection MIT
description Thesis (S.M.)--Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2008.
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spelling mit-1721.1/457232022-02-03T02:05:26Z On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective Wang, Jinbo, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Paola Malanotte-Rizzoli. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Joint Program in Physical Oceanography Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Joint Program in Physical Oceanography. Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Ocean-atmosphere interaction Computer simulation Thesis (S.M.)--Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p. 64-67). Coupled ocean/atmosphere simulations exhibit systematic warm biases over the South West African (SWA) coastal region. Recent investigations indicate that coastal ocean dynamics may play an important role in determining the SST patterns, but none of them provide a detailed analysis. In this study, I analyze simulations produced both by coupled models and by idealized models. Then results are interpreted on the basis of a theoretical framework. Finally the conclusion is reached that the insufficient resolution of the ocean component in the coupled model is responsible for the warm biases over the SWA coastal region. The coarse resolution used in the ocean model has an artificially stretched coastal side-wall boundary layer, which induces a smaller upwelling velocity in the boundary layer. The vertical heat transport decreases even when the volume transport is unchanged because of its nonlinear relationship with the magnitude of the upwelling velocity. Based on the scaling of the idealized model simulations, a simplified calculation shows that the vertical heat transport is inversely proportional to the zonal resolution over the coastal region. Therefore, increasing the horizontal resolution can considerably improve the coastal SST simulation, and better resolve the coastal dynamics. by Jinbo Wang. S.M. 2009-06-30T16:07:43Z 2009-06-30T16:07:43Z 2008 2008 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45723 264799272 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 67 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology
spellingShingle Joint Program in Physical Oceanography.
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Computer simulation
Wang, Jinbo, Ph. D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective
title On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective
title_full On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective
title_fullStr On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective
title_full_unstemmed On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective
title_short On the warm bias along the South-West African Coast in coupled models : an oceanic perspective
title_sort on the warm bias along the south west african coast in coupled models an oceanic perspective
topic Joint Program in Physical Oceanography.
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Ocean-atmosphere interaction
Computer simulation
url http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/45723
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