HLRS Project Report 2007/2008: "Simulating El Nino in an Eddy-Resolving Coupled Ocean-Ecosystem Model"

By including a radiatively active biological component we find considerable improvements of the circulation in a realistic eddy-resolving circulation model of the Pacific Ocean. The long-term changes in the dynamically adjusted circulation and watermass distribution differ clearly from the first order response and are mediated by a damped wave response. A similar, but somewhat weaker model improvement is obtained using a fixed non-flow-interactive chlorophyll concentration.