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

2009 research roundup

struggling scientist please cite my papers.
To round off the year we have collected a sample of 2009 research articles that involved MITgcm in some way. Lots of interesting work ranging from gas-giant planets to laboratory scale rotating fluid tanks. Take a look…

December 31, 2009 by Helen Hill

Overturning Sensitivity in an Eddying Ocean Model

A snapshot relative vorticity (in colors) and pressure (relief) at 100 m depth in a simulation with realistic, though idealized, forcing. The color range spans =B15e-4 s^{-1}. The domain is a simple "notched box" ocean with vertical walls and periodic channel in the southernmost 1200 km.
Work by Christopher Wolfe and Paola Cessi at UCSD, in which they investigate the equilibrium response of an eddy-resolving version of MITgcm to variations in the external parameters of diffusivity, wind forcing and geometry, with particular attention to the meridional overturning circulation (MOC) and deep stratification…

November 29, 2009 by Helen Hill

Planet-in-a-Bottle

Figure 1. The components of the system: The laboratory observatory consists of a physical system: a rotating table on which a tank, camera and control system for illumination are mounted. The computational part consists of a measurement system for velocimetry, a numerical model (MITgcm), and an assimilation system.
Work by Sai Ravela, John Marshall, Chris Hill, Andrew Wong and Scott Stransky in which they use MITgcm to provide the virtual analogue for a fluid lab experiment in the physical laboratory. This is part of an effort to demonstrate how to achieve real-time model-data synthesis, using measurements from a roboticaly controlled automated sensor system…

October 31, 2009 by Helen Hill

Lake Modeling

Figure 1. Summer-time, mean circulation. The plot shows depth integrated current (arrows) overlying column average water temperature (colored). Arrows illustrating vector flow are plotted every 5 grid-points.

Work by Galen McKinley and Val Bennington at the University of Wisconsin, Madison using MITgcm to model the general circulation of Lake Superior as part of a project to develop a quantitative understanding of the role such bodies of water may play in the terrestrial carbon cycle…

September 20, 2009 by Helen Hill

Tidal Mixing Over Rough Topography

Snapshot of wave zonal velocity (ms-1) deviation from the barotropic tide in the control simulation. Work by Maxim Nikurshin and Sonya Legg at GFDL using a 2d version of MITgcm to explore radiation and dissipation of the internal tides generated through tidal mixing over rough topography…

July 31, 2009 by Helen Hill

Ocean Ecosystems

Figure 1. Illustration of the key components in the self-assembling phytoplankton community model. After some years of interaction, the fittest "types" persist and occupy distinct habitats.Work by Fanny Monteiro with Mick Follows and Stephanie Dutkiewicz at MIT who have been using the MITgcm to probe the behaviour of self-assembling phytoplankton communities within a global ocean circulation…

June 18, 2009 by Helen Hill

ConGRADulations!

Congratulations to MITgcm’s two newest doctoral graduates:Fanny Monteiro and Maxim Nikurashin.

June 8, 2009 by Helen Hill