Arctic Ocean Modeling: The Consistent
Physics on the Path to the High Spatial
Resolution
Nikolay G. Iakovlev
Introduction
The Arctic Ocean (AO) is one of the less explored regions of the World because of
its geographical location. The keen interest to the AO (and to the Arctic in general)
is due both to the purely academic problems: the observed structural changes of the
climate system, the polar system stability, the nature of the Polar Amplification
[25], and the practical issues of navigation and petroleum/gas production on the
shelf. The ongoing structural changes in the polar climate system make the statistical approaches, based on historical data, irrelevant. Despite the impressive
progress, the observational net is still too sparse, especially in the deep ocean under
ice. That is why the role of numerical models, based on the “first principles”, is
important in solving the problems of the AO state analysis and forecast.
Multiyear experience of the AO modeling in the frame of the AOMIP (Arctic
Ocean Modeling Intercomparison Project, now—FAMOS, The Forum for Arctic
Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis, http://www.whoi.edu/projects/
famos/, [23]) shows, that many of the problems formulated 17 years ago are still
on the agenda. For example, the first coordinated experiment, carried out in 1999,
showed that not all the modern models were able to simulate the observed salinity
structures, and only a few models reproduced the “classical” cyclonic circulation
scheme in the Atlantic water layer at the depths of 300–500 m [24]. Now, thanks to
the cooperation between modelers and field oceanographers, both models and
circulation schemes are refined.
N. G. Iakovlev ( ✉ )
Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Gubkina 8, Moscow 119333, Russia
e-mail: nick_yakovlev@mail.ru
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_35
559
Physics on the Path to the High Spatial
Resolution
Nikolay G. Iakovlev
Introduction
The Arctic Ocean (AO) is one of the less explored regions of the World because of
its geographical location. The keen interest to the AO (and to the Arctic in general)
is due both to the purely academic problems: the observed structural changes of the
climate system, the polar system stability, the nature of the Polar Amplification
[25], and the practical issues of navigation and petroleum/gas production on the
shelf. The ongoing structural changes in the polar climate system make the statistical approaches, based on historical data, irrelevant. Despite the impressive
progress, the observational net is still too sparse, especially in the deep ocean under
ice. That is why the role of numerical models, based on the “first principles”, is
important in solving the problems of the AO state analysis and forecast.
Multiyear experience of the AO modeling in the frame of the AOMIP (Arctic
Ocean Modeling Intercomparison Project, now—FAMOS, The Forum for Arctic
Ocean Modeling and Observational Synthesis, http://www.whoi.edu/projects/
famos/, [23]) shows, that many of the problems formulated 17 years ago are still
on the agenda. For example, the first coordinated experiment, carried out in 1999,
showed that not all the modern models were able to simulate the observed salinity
structures, and only a few models reproduced the “classical” cyclonic circulation
scheme in the Atlantic water layer at the depths of 300–500 m [24]. Now, thanks to
the cooperation between modelers and field oceanographers, both models and
circulation schemes are refined.
N. G. Iakovlev ( ✉ )
Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences,
Gubkina 8, Moscow 119333, Russia
e-mail: nick_yakovlev@mail.ru
© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018
M. G. Velarde et al. (eds.), The Ocean in Motion, Springer Oceanography,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71934-4_35
559