Y Tony Song (PI)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
song@pacific.jpl.nasa.gov

Improving Topography and Boussinesq Representation in OGCM for Studying Ocean-Earth Interactions and Analyzing GRACE Data

The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) observed ocean-bottom-pressure is the oceanic mass redistribution, which is fundamentally important for understanding ocean climate change and forcing (bottom torques) acting on the solid Earth by ocean circulation. The oceanic mass changes as part of the sea level change signals are the immediate consequences of climate change, closely related to Earth’s rotational variations and oceanic angular momentum budget on timescales from minutes to decades. The key to successful application of GRACE and other geodetic data for oceanography, solid-Earth and sea level studies is the model’s capabilities representing bottom topography and mass-conserving properties. For the last several years, JPL has been developing mass-conserving ocean models by improving the conventional topographic formulations with a combined non-linear bottom-boundary-layer scheme and non-Boussinesq (mass-conserving) physics. Initial comparisons with GRACE and TOPEX observations are very encouraging.  The objective of this proposal is to implement new model components and analyze GRACE data for NASA’s GMAO effort, as well as evaluate model outputs for both oceanography and solid-Earth applications. Specifically, we propose:

• To compare GRACE, Earth rotation, and other geodetic observations with GMAO/ECCO and JPL’s non-Boussinesq models for improving NASA’s next generation model system.
• To quantify the dynamical balance of wind-stress curl, bottom-pressure toque, and oceanic mass redistribution by using QuikSCAT winds, GRACE bottom-pressure data, and GMAO/ECCO products.
• To study ocean-solid Earth interactions and global sea-level changes by applying geodetic observations into the climate model system.

This proposal emphasizes combining GMAO/ECCO products with geodetic satellite observations for interdisciplinary research, and testing new model components that may lead to new scientific insights and enhanced model capabilities in addressing the science questions outlined in NASA’s research Strategy: ''How is the global ocean circulation varying on interannual, decadal, and longer time scales?'', “How can climate variations induce changes in global ocean circulation?” and “How is global sea level affect by climate change?”

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