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How Realistic is the Internal Tide Energy Decay in a Global Ocean Model?
  • Maarten Buijsman
Maarten Buijsman
University of Southern Mississippi

Corresponding Author:maarten.buijsman@usm.edu

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Abstract

On this poster we explore how well global HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) simulations predict (semidiurnal) internal tides and their decay. We explore two important factors that govern the internal tide predictability: model resolution (8 km vs. 4 km) and wave drag. We validate these simulations with internal-tide sea-surface height amplitudes from altimetry, surface-tide dissipation rates estimated from an altimetry-constrained model, finestructure and microstructure dissipation rates, and modal-conversion rates computed from analytical models. To compare HYCOM to various altimetry data sets, we derive a spatially varying correction factor that accounts for the effect of time series duration on non-stationarity. We perform tidal energy balances and decompose the M2 internal tides into vertical modes.