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Science Rendezvous > Posters Climate variations in the Northeast Pacific Ocean Antonietta Capotondi (1) CIRES, (2) NOAA/ESRL The northeast Pacific Ocean, including the west coast of North America and the Gulf of Alaska is characterized by large biological productivity, and plays a key role in the fishery industry. The physical processes that are most relevant for ecosystem dynamics include coastal upwelling, variations in mixed layer/pycnocline depth depth as well as mesoscale eddy statistics. In this study, which is based upon two ocean model simulations forced with observations over the last half of the 20th century, we examine the relationship between the processes relevant for the ecosystem in the northeast Pacific, and large-scale climate variations. The two simulations used in this study differ in their horizontal resolutions and spatial domains. One simulation was carried out with the ocean component of the first NCAR climate model, it is global, but has a relatively coarse horizontal resolution, and does not include mesoscale eddies. The second simulation, on the other hand, was performed with a high-resolution model of the northeast Pacific domain, and is eddy-permitting. Comparison of the two simulations allows us to examine the influence of small-scale processes in the upper-ocean structure of the northeast Pacific Ocean. |
