Modeling Internal Solitary Waves, MITgcm.eu

Modeling Internal Standing Waves using MITgcmThis month we look at work by Nicolas Grisouard and Chantal Staquet of the Laboratoire des Ecoulements Geophysiques et Industriels, Grenoble, France, who have been using MITgcm to model internal solitary waves (ISWs) of a kind observed in the Bay of Biscay.

October 31, 2010 by Helen Hill

MITgcm Movie Mania

A selection of MITgcm moviesWhat is it about MITgcm that it spawns so many great movies? In a break with science stories, MITgcm shares 3 recent movies showcasing projects using MITgcm.

September 30, 2010 by Helen Hill

Climate Determinism Revisited

Stable states schematic In a first for models simulating the 3d dynamics of both ocean and atmosphere, the MITgcm climate model has been found to exhibit three different stable states for exactly the same set of parameters and external forcings, suggesting that climates may exhibit multiple equilibria even in the presence of a vigorous internal variability sustained by weather systems and ocean-atmosphere-sea ice interactions…

August 31, 2010 by Helen Hill

Modeling Nordic Seas

Modeling the Denmark Strait circulation using MITgcmThis month we look at work by Tom Haine, Professor of Physical Oceanography at Johns Hopkins University who is using MITgcm to model high-frequency fluctuations in the flow through the Denmark Strait…

July 31, 2010 by Helen Hill

MITjcm

Modeling internal convection on a gas giant using MITjcmThis month we look at work by Yohai Kaspi (a NOAA Climate and Global Change postdoctoral fellow currently working with Tapio Schneider at Caltech) who has been using MITgcm to model the atmosphere on a Jupiter-like gas giant…

June 30, 2010 by Helen Hill

Ocean Circulation and Atlantic Decadal Variability

Decadal Variability in an MITgcm Double Drake Experiment This month we look at work by Martha Buckley, David Ferreira, Jean-Michel Campin, Ross Tulloch and John Marshall, who have been using MITgcm to explore what role ocean circulation may play in Atlantic decadal variability. Asking the question: What is the role of the ocean circulation in Atlantic decadal SST variability, Buckley and co-workers use MITgcm to analyse the behavior of thermal anomalies within the framework of an idealised GCM.

May 28, 2010 by Helen Hill

Ocean Tomography

Acoustic paths Perth to Bermuda Brian Dushaw has been looking at the MITgcm ECCO2 state-estimates with help from Dimitris Menemenlis. Brian finds that by using the hydrography from the state-estimate, together with some enhanced resolution bathymetric data in key regions, he can reconstruct acoustic paths between Perth and Bermuda that were first measured in the 1960s. Previous ray-tracing efforts to reproduce this observed pathway computationally have not succeeded ….

April 30, 2010 by Helen Hill

OCCA

Surface height anomaly from OCCAThis month we focus on work by Gael Forget and the ECCO team who have been using MITgcm to construct a new ocean atlas. By using MITgcm as a means of optimally synthesising data within the framework of a physically accurate general circulation model, OCCA (short for OCean Comprehensible Atlas) provides a singularly accurate 3-year “snap-shot” of the global ocean state for the period December 2003 to November 2006…

March 30, 2010 by Helen Hill

Anthropogenic CO2 transport in the Southern Ocean.

In and out: Driven by winds, the Southern Ocean's currents (blue globe) transport CO2 (red) northward. Credit: T. Ito et al., Nature 463 (2010)Taka Ito, Molly Woloszyn and Matt Mazloff have been studying anthropogenic CO2 transport in the Southern Ocean. Using MITgcm’s adjoint and offline capabilities, the team find a clear correlation between the pattern of carbon uptake and oceanic vertical exchange in strong support of wind-driven primary regulation of Southern Ocean ACO2 transport…

February 26, 2010 by Helen Hill

Ecological Control of Subtropical Nutrient Concentrations

Multiple-Resource Experiment. (top) Emergent biogeographical provinces, defined by most dominant species, reminiscent of Longhurst (1995)
In this article we spotlight recent work by Darwin Project team members Stephanie Dutkiewicz, Mick Follows and Jason Bragg, who have been examining the utility of resource control theory to interpret the relationships between organisms and resources in a global coupled physical-biogeochemistry-ecosystem model built around MITgcm…

January 31, 2010 by Helen Hill