On the wind-driven coastal upwelling in the Gulf of Lions

Johns, B.; Marsaleix, Patrick; Estournel, Claude; Véhil, Raoul

doi:10.1016/0924-7963(92)90008-v

Cited by 37 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The westward drift of the maturing food chain may favour higher trophic level organisms, suitable to sperm whale feeding, in the Gulf of Lions. Furthermore, northwesterly wind gales are common in the Gulf of Lions, even during summer, which generate coastal upwelling in this area (Hua & Thomasset 1983, Johns et al 1992, as well as vertical mixing linked to the complex canyon topography. Hence, several factors might contribute to high sperm whale abundance in this part of the western basin.…”

Section: Regional Variation In Sperm Whale Relative Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and relative abundance of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea

Gannier¹,

Drouot²,

Goold³

2002

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

104

132

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Section: Regional Variation In Sperm Whale Relative Abundancementioning

confidence: 99%

Distribution and relative abundance of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea

Gannier¹,

Drouot²,

Goold³

2002

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

104

132

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“…Estournel et al (2003) showed that the wind stress curl, associated with Tramontane and Mistral, could explain the meso-scale eddy currents developing over the whole shelf. The possible suddenness and strength of these winds are likely to cause strong inertial oscillations of the current (Petrenko et al, 2005) and coastal upwelling, preferentially developing along rectilinear sections of the coast (Johns et al, 1992). In winter, these winds, rather dry and cold, extract a large amount of heat from the water column.…”

Section: Previous Applications Of Hydrodynamic Modeling In the North mentioning

confidence: 99%

"Scale oriented" embedded modeling of the North-Western Mediterranean in the frame of MFSTEP

et al. 2009

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Abstract. An embedded forecasting system was developed for the North-Western Mediterranean at 3-km resolution. The system is based on the Symphonie hydrodynamic free surface model and on the variational initialization and forcing platform VIFOP. The regional model is initialized and forced at its open lateral boundaries by the MFS GCM and forced at the surface by the ALADIN numerical weather prediction model. Once a week, a five-day forecast is produced after a hindcast of seven days. This pre-modeling period of 7 days before beginning the forecast allows the development of the small scale features associated to the high resolution. The relevance of the 5-day forecast strategy has been examined by comparing the forecasted fields to hindcast fields (forced by meteorological and oceanic analyses) considered as a reference. Mismatches remain at a very low level indicating a good quality of the forecasted forcing fields and also possibly to the strong wind conditions which prevailed during the period. The embedded forecasts have been compared to the MFS observing system (SST and MedArgo) during 6 forecast cycles between September 2004 and February 2005. It was basically found that in the North-Western Mediterranean, the MFS basin-scale model and thus the regional model forecasts are characterized by large negative biases of salinity in the first 100 m under the surface leading thus to too light subsurface waters. The underestimation of temperature by the regional model just below the surface and its overestimation at 30m deep can be attributed to an overestimation of the turbulent mixing. The regional model allows to represent a number of processes especially those induced by the wind as coastal upwelling under stratified conditions, dense water formation over the Gulf of Lion shelf, deep mixing in the convection zone or influence on the Northern Current penetration in the Gulf of Lion.

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“…This mesoscale activity is observed during the whole year by satellite imagery, although more eddies are observed during the winter (Hu et al 2009). After wind bursts, the NC can penetrate over the shelf: its variability, as well as the meanders and eddies that are associated with this current are responsible for a large part of the exchanges between the open ocean and the coastal waters (Albérola et al 1995, Estournel et al 2003, Johns et al 1992.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Numerous physical processes characterize the ocean circulation in the GoL, such as coastal up-and downwellings (Millot 1979, Johns et al 1992, winter dense water forming and cascading down the shelf break (Béthoux et al 2002, Dufau-Julliand et al 2004, local shelf circulation patterns (Estournel et al 2003, Petrenko et al 2005) and inertial and diurnal motions (Millot et al 1981).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monitoring the Northern Current in the Gulf of Lions with an observing system simulation experiment

et al. 2012

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SUMMARY: The coastal circulation in the Gulf of Lions (GoL) is influenced by the Northern Current (NC), forced by a complex wind system and also affected by important river discharges from the Rhône River. Correct modelling of this current is therefore important for obtaining a good representation of the gulf circulation. An observing system simulation experiment using the SEEK filter data assimilation method was used in a regional 1/16° configuration of the GoL in the NEMO model. The synthetic observation database used for the experiment comprised altimetric data in addition to insitu temperature and salinity profiles. Statistical diagnostics and other physical criteria based on the improvement of NC representation were set up in order to assess the quality of this experiment. Comparisons between the free 1/16° simulation and the experience with assimilation show that data assimilation significantly improved the description of the characteristics of the NC as well as its seasonal and mesoscale variability, which in turn improved the description of the water exchanges between the coastal region and the open sea.Keywords: data assimilation, SEEK filter, OSSEs, Gulf of Lions, Northern Current, coastal processes, high-resolution modelling. RESUMEN: SuperviSión de la corriente del norte en el Golfo de león con un experimento de Simulación del SiStema de obServación. -La circulación costera en el Golfo de León (GoL) está a la vez influida por la Corriente del Norte del Mediterráneo (NC) y forzada por un sistema complejo de viento, así como las descargas importantes del río Rhône. Una correcta modelización de esta corriente es, por lo tanto, de importancia para tener una buena representación de la circulación en el golfo. Un experimento de simulación del sistema de observación mediante el método de filtro SEEK asimilación de datos se utiliza en una configuración regional 1/16 del GoL del modelo NEMO. La base de datos de observación sintética utilizada para el experimento se hace con los datos altimétricos además de la temperatura in situ y de los perfiles de salinidad. A fin de evaluar la calidad de este experimento, diagnósticos estadísticos y otros criterios físicos sobre la base de mejorar la representación del NC se han establecido. Las comparaciones entre la simulación libre 1/16 y el experimento con asimilación muestra que la asimilación de datos ha mejorado significativamente las características de los NC, así como su variabilidad estacional y de mesoescala, que a su vez ha mejorado el intercambio de agua entre la región costera y el mar abierto.Palabras clave: asimilación de datos, SEEK filtro, OSSEs, Golfo de León, la corriente del norte del Mediterráneo, procesos costeros, modelización de alta resolución.

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On the wind-driven coastal upwelling in the Gulf of Lions

Cited by 37 publications

References 5 publications

Distribution and relative abundance of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea

Distribution and relative abundance of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea

"Scale oriented" embedded modeling of the North-Western Mediterranean in the frame of MFSTEP

Monitoring the Northern Current in the Gulf of Lions with an observing system simulation experiment

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On the wind-driven coastal upwelling in the Gulf of Lions

Cited by 37 publications

References 5 publications

Distribution and relative abundance of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea

Distribution and relative abundance of sperm whales in the Mediterranean Sea

&quot;Scale oriented&quot; embedded modeling of the North-Western Mediterranean in the frame of MFSTEP

Monitoring the Northern Current in the Gulf of Lions with an observing system simulation experiment

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

"Scale oriented" embedded modeling of the North-Western Mediterranean in the frame of MFSTEP