Modeling the global circulation response and the regional response of the Arctic Ocean to the external forcing anomalies

The problem of numerical modeling and analysis of the large-scale World Ocean circulation variability under variations of the external forcing is considered. A numerical model was developed in the INM RAS and is based on the primitive equations of the ocean circulation written in a spherical generalized σ-coordinate system. The model’s equations are approximated on a grid with resolution of 2.5° × 2° × 33, and the North Pole is displaced to the continental point (60°E, 60.5°N). There are two stages for the numerical experiments. The quasi-equilibrium circulation of the World Ocean under the climatological atmospheric forcing is simulated at the first stage. The run is carried out over a period of 3000 years during which a quasi-equilibrium model regime is formed. At the second stage, the sensitivity of the model ocean circulation to the atmospheric forcing perturbations in the Southern Hemisphere is studied. According to the results, the strongest regional changes in the hydrography take place in the Arctic Ocean. Substantial changes of sea’s surface height and local anomalies of the temperature and salinity are formed there.