All ISOMIP models differ in their choice of native coordinates and grid discretizations. To overcome this inconsistency, we are defining a common grid to which all ISOMIP model outputs will be interpolated. The purpose of the common grid is to facilitate the analysis and intercomparison of model output.
All ISOMIP models compute their basic prognostic quantities on staggered horizontal grids. The ISOMIP common grid, however, requires that all prognostic quantities be reported at collocated points. This arrangement is often referred to as the A-Grid (Arakawa, 1966). Additionally, the collocated, common-grid horizontal coordinates are defined to be spherical.
The ISOMIP models represent a variety of different vertical coordinate schemes, namely, height, sigma, and isopycnic. This raises the question whether to convert all model output to a standard vertical coordinate system, or to have each model output represented in its native-vertical coordinate system. We have decided to convert all model output to height coordinates. The common-grid vertical levels are defined at 30 standard ocean depths. If the vertical coordinate range of any given ISOMIP model experiment is a subset of this set, only the data from the subset need be stored.
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. © David Holland. All Rights Reserved. |
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