Ocean Bottom Pressure Variability: Can It Be Reliably Modeled?. Issue 3 (9th March 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Androsov, Alexey; Boebel, Olaf; Schröter, Jens; Danilov, Sergey; Macrander, Andreas; Ivanciu, Ioana
• Is Part Of: Journal of geophysical research. Volume 125:Issue 3(2020)
• Page Start: n/a
• Page End: n/a
• Publication Date: 2020-03-09
• Subjects: in situ ocean bottom pressure -- pressure inverted echo sounder PIES -- modeling OBP variability -- daily and monthly scales -- atmospheric loading; Oceanography -- Periodicals; 551.4605
• DOI: 10.1029/2019JC015469
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2169-9275

Abstract

Abstract: Ocean bottom pressure (OBP) variability serves as a proxy of ocean mass variability, the knowledge of which is needed in geophysical applications. The question of how well it can be modeled by the present general ocean circulation models on time scales in excess of 1 day is addressed here by comparing the simulated OBP variability with the observed one. To this end, a new multiyear data set is used, obtained with an array of bottom pressure gauges deployed deeply along a transect across the Southern Ocean. We present a brief description of OBP data and show large‐scale correlations over several thousand kilometers at all time scales using daily and monthly averaged data. Annual and semiannual cycles are weak. Close to the Agulhas Retroflection, signals of up to 30 cm equivalent water height are detected. Further south, signals are mostly intermittent and noisy. It is shown that the models simulate consistent patterns of bottom pressure variability on monthly and longer scales except for areas with high mesoscale eddy activity, where high resolution is needed to capture the variability due to eddies. Furthermore, despite good agreement in the amplitude of variability, the in situ and simulated OBP show only modest correlation. Key Points: We analyze the OBP variability as simulated by global ocean models and compare the simulated variability to that measured with PIES Ocean models of different numerical formulation and spatial resolution show remarkably similar OBP, except in regions of high variance