WORKSHOP #3 (AOMIP)

The following is a summary of preliminary results presented by Rudiger Gerdes concerning the pilot OMIP simulations. In those simulations, the MOM2 and HOPE models were forced using the OMIP Climatological Forcing. Although OMIP covers a global domain, the focus here is on the performance of the OMIP models in the Arctic basin only. These OMIP findings and experineces may thus be relevant to the upcoming AOMIP simulations.

• Both model results are very similar. Most of the time it is difficult to decide which result is better based on available data sets.
• The model results are close to the climatological fields in many cases.
• The Gent-McWilliams parameterizations has mixed effects on the model results.
• Longer integration times are necessary to assess the more subtle differences in model physics.
• Pole filtering should be avoided because it contaminates low-latitude, downstream downstream results (e.g., the East Greenland Current in MOM2).
• Pronounced model-data discrepancies exist in the Arctic basin.
• Exchanges between the Arctic and neighboring oceans must be improved.
• The sea-ice export from the Arctic basin to the Greenland Sea is too low.
• The Arctic halocline is overly thick, partly because of the anomalously low sea-ice export. This will potentially result in an undesirable, reduced model sensitivity to climate forcing in longer model runs.

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