Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2017, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (4): 77-86.doi: 10.11978/2016129CSTR: 32234.14.2016129

• Orginal Article • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Response of tropical SST to non-breaking surface wave-induced vertical mixing in a climate model

Zilong LIU(), Jian SHI(), Guorong JIANG, Lin XIAO   

  1. College of Meteorology and Oceanography, People's Liberation Army (PLA) University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 211101, China
  • Received:2016-12-10 Revised:2017-03-22 Online:2017-07-20 Published:2017-07-26
  • Supported by:
    National Natural Science Foundation of China (41676014)

Abstract:

One of common problems of climate models is that the simulated sea surface temperature (SST) deviates noticeably from the observation in the tropics, such as the equatorial cold tongue in the eastern Pacific. Based on the theory of the parameterization of feature waves, the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) reanalysis wind data were used to drive the WAVEWATCH Ⅲ to simulate the process of ocean waves in the tropics, and significant wave height, wave period and wavelength can be obtained. These wave parameters were used to calculate the vertical vortex momentum coefficient and thermal mixing coefficient, which were introduced to the controlling equation of SBPOM (Stony Brook Parallel Ocean Model), and to explore the effects of non-breaking surface wave-induced vertical mixing on the SST simulation in the tropics. The simulation results showed that by considering the non-breaking surface wave-induced vertical mixing, the simulated SST in the tropics and the equatorial Pacific cold tongue were improved effectively, and the accuracy of simulated SST in the tropics has been enhanced.

Key words: wave-induced vertical mixing, WAVEWATCH Ⅲ, SBPOM, the equatorial Pacific cold tongue, sea surface temperature

CLC Number: 

  • P731.2