Large-scale modelling of the South-East Atlantic upwelling system

Abstract

The profitable management of fisheries resources depends largely on an ability to anticipate fish recruitment, growth and distribution. This in turn is determined, to a currently unknown extent, by a reliable predictive ability for changing environmental variables. It is becoming increasingly apparent that prediction of the physical aspects of the ocean will have to rely on numerical modelling of the system, supported by spot measurements at sea. In this paper, a first attempt at modelling the entire upwelling system of the South-East Atlantic, from 24°S to the tip of Africa, with the FRAM (Fine Resolution Antarctic Model) is presented. The main large and mesoscale upwelling features and processes, including the core upwelling centres and upwelling plumes, are simulated well. Velocities and the distributions of salinity and temperature in the model are all in general agreement with those observed at sea. © 1995 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.