Regional eddy vorticity transport and the equilibrium vorticity budgets of a numerical model ocean circulation.

Abstract

The dynamic balances of the mean flow of a numerical model ocean general circulation experiment are examined through evaluation of regional vorticity budgets. The instantaneous flow is strongly time dependent and the effect of eddy terms in the mean budgets is of primary interest. Budgets have been computed over volumes ranging in size from less than that of a typical model eddy up to an entire winddriven gyre, using time series of 5 and 10 year durations. The statistical reliability of terms in the budgets varies significantly with the region size; over regions the size of an eddy or smaller the reliability is often poor, but over the selected larger regions it is satisfactory. The final analysis regions are selected by requiring that each be identified clearly with some part of the mean flow and that cancellation of the locally dominant terms within each region be minimized whenever possible. (from authors abstract)