Abstract

The representation of submesoscale processes in ocean models is critical for accurately representing the exchange of mass and tracers between the surface mixed layer and subsurface waters. Comparisons of these processes using multiple models is an important step for the validation of different numerical schemes and identifying possible future opportunities for model coupling. This study investigated the representation of submesoscale processes using two ocean models, the structured regional ocean model ROMS and the unstructured global ocean model MPAS-O in an idealized domain. Results from the two models are highly similar for multiple statistical metrics of submesoscale dynamics including frontal processes, and also show that the impact of ocean model choice is smaller than the choice of spatial grid resolution. Overall, these results show promise for the successful coupling of the two ocean models, and highlight additional differences in the representation of along- and cross-frontal divergence estimates for further exploration.