A Triply Nested Ocean Model for Simulating the Kuroshio—Roles of Horizontal Resolution on JEBAR

Abstract A triply nested ocean general circulation model was used to examine how the model horizontal resolution influences the Kuroshio in the East China Sea (ECS) and the sea level variability. As the model resolution increases from 1/2° to 1/18° the path, current intensity, and vertical structure of the model Kuroshio and the variability of sea level become closer to observations. In general, the higher-resolution model improves the baroclinic as well as barotropic component of the Kuroshio and thus reproduces more realistic density and current fields. This improvement, in addition to better representation of topography, results in better reproduction of the interaction between baroclinicity and bottom topography, that is, JEBAR (joint effect of baroclinicity and bottom relief) in a high-resolution model. Modeling the Kuroshio in the ECS provides an ideal example of such improvement. In particular, the Kuroshio veering phenomenon at (30°N, 129°E) southwest of Kyushu is discussed, together with the seas...

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