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Toward an operational 3 dimensional simulation of the tropical Atlantic Ocean
Author(s) -
Merle Jacques,
Morlière Alain
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl015i007p00653
Subject(s) - tropical atlantic , climatology , meteorology , forcing (mathematics) , environmental science , range (aeronautics) , atlantic hurricane , oceanography , tropical cyclone , geology , sea surface temperature , geography , aerospace engineering , engineering
Simulations obtained with a three dimensional primitive equation model in the tropical Atlantic ocean are compared with observations made during the FOCAL and SEQUAL experiments in 1984. In many respects the results are encouraging; notably, the most characteristic aspects of the 1984 warm event are correctly represented by the simulations. As part of the TOGA program, it is planned to run such a model operationally in the tropical Atlantic ocean. An improvement in the simulation is expected from a regular reinitialization of the model using observations. The quality of the forcing functions, especially the wind stress, will be improved by using a high frequency wind field provided operationally by the European Center for Medium range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF).