HR: 08:30h
AN: OS41A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: A subtlety in forcing eddy resolving ocean models with applied wind stress
AU: * Xu, Y
EM: yongsheng@utig.ig.utexas.edu
AF: Institute for Geophysics The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Bldg. 196 (ROC), Austin, TX 78758, United States
AU: Scott, R
EM: rscott@utig.ig.utexas.edu
AF: Institute for Geophysics The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Bldg. 196 (ROC), Austin, TX 78758, United States
AB: High-resolution satellite-mounted scatterometers provide surface wind data containing wealth of new information not included by conventional surface wind measurements, which makes it a more accurate representation of the boundary condition needed for oceanic models. We examine it in the real data that neglecting the ocean current dependence in the wind will increase wind power input to the oceanic general circulation by 29% and can even reverse the sign of the power input in some places of strong ocean currents. An experiment is designed to illustrate a possible pitfall in applying a scatterometer-derived wind stress in modeling ocean circulation. It is that a scatterometer-derived wind stress will lead to spurious energy sources almost as large as that from applying surface wind stress neglecting the ocean current dependence when applied to models directly. We also explain how to avoid this pitfall, and provide the necessary data.
DE: 3339 Ocean/atmosphere interactions (0312, 4504)
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
DE: 4255 Numerical modeling (0545, 0560)
DE: 4260 Ocean data assimilation and reanalysis (3225)
DE: 4262 Ocean observing systems
SC: Ocean Sciences [OS]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly