Collaborative Research - SGER - Model Verification of Radiation of Barotropic Energy from the Gulf Stream

0404499/0401385/0405766将通过分析最先进的海洋环流模型的输出来探讨洋流损失从风中获得的能量的基本过程。主要目的是确定正压能量辐射远离墨西哥湾流系统的特征。结果将被用来指导现场方案的设计，以观察这一现象。现代海洋环流模式在强海流（如墨西哥湾流）和真实地形的情况下是否能正确模拟中尺度正压变率的物理现象，这并不是先验的确定。这项工作的最终结果将包括模式与真实的海洋数据的比较，可能只会揭示模式的不足之处，而对真实的海洋中正压辐射的性质几乎没有提供任何见解。至少，关于现代模式模拟海洋正压变化的能力（或缺乏能力）的信息应该会导致模式的改进。更广泛的影响。这项工作的结果将提供有关一种现象的信息，这种现象对洋流的动力学很重要，但很难孤立。 尽管这些信息导致海洋环流模型的改进，但人们可以期望随后对依赖于这些模型的现象的研究有所改进，例如， 气候变化、生态系统演变和二氧化碳封存的研究，仅举几个更广泛的应用。

0404499/0401385/0405766A fundamental process by which ocean currents lose the energy acquired from the wind will be explored through analyses of output from state-of-the-art ocean general circulation models. The main goal is to determine the characteristics of radiation of barotropic energy away from the Gulf Stream system. The results will then be used to guide the design of a field program to observe the phenomenon. It is not a priori certain that the modern ocean general circulation models are properly simulating the physics of mesoscale barotropic variability in the presence of strong currents (like the Gulf Stream) and realistic topography. The end result of this work, which will include model comparisons with real ocean data, might only reveal the inadequacies of the models, while providing little insight into the nature of barotropic radiation in the real ocean. At least, information about the ability (or lack thereof) of modern models to simulate the ocean's barotropic variability should lead to model improvements. Broader Impacts. The results from this work will provide information on a phenomenon that is important to the dynamics of ocean currents but is difficult to isolate. Insofar as this information leads to improvements of models of the ocean's general circulation, one can expect subsequent improvements in studies of phenomena that rely on such models, e.g., studies of climate variability, ecosystem evolution, and CO2 sequestration, to name just a few broader applications.