Physical and biochemical averaged vertical profiles in the Mediterranean regions: an important tool to trace the climatology of water masses and to validate incoming data from operational oceanography

Manca, Beniamino B.; Burcă, Mihai; Giorgetti, Alessandra; Coatanoan, Christine; Garcia, M. J.; Iona, Athanasia

doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2003.11.025

Cited by 121 publications

(115 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…9). This pattern is consistent with the climatology of Manca et al (2004), even if the nitrate concentrations are slightly higher in the eastern Ionian Sea, which is related to overestimated eastern boundary values.…”

Section: Results Of the Simulationsupporting

confidence: 87%

Development of BFMCOUPLER (v1.0), the coupling scheme that links the MITgcm and BFM models for ocean biogeochemistry simulations

et al. 2017

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Abstract. In this paper, we present a coupling scheme between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology general circulation model (MITgcm) and the Biogeochemical Flux Model (BFM). The MITgcm and BFM are widely used models for geophysical fluid dynamics and for ocean biogeochemistry, respectively, and they benefit from the support of active developers and user communities. The MITgcm is a state-of-the-art general circulation model for simulating the ocean and the atmosphere. This model is fully 3-D (including the non-hydrostatic term of momentum equations) and is characterized by a finite-volume discretization and a number of additional features enabling simulations from global (O(10 7 ) m) to local scales (O(100) m). The BFM is a biogeochemical model based on plankton functional type formulations, and it simulates the cycling of a number of constituents and nutrients within marine ecosystems. The online coupling presented in this paper is based on an open-source code, and it is characterized by a modular structure. Modularity preserves the potentials of the two models, allowing for a sustainable programming effort to handle future evolutions in the two codes. We also tested specific model options and integration schemes to balance the numerical accuracy against the computational performance. The coupling scheme allows us to solve several processes that are not considered by each of the models alone, including light attenuation parameterizations along the water column, phytoplankton and detritus sinking, external inputs, and surface and bottom fluxes.Moreover, this new coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model has been configured and tested against an idealized problem (a cyclonic gyre in a mid-latitude closed basin) and a realistic case study (central part of the Mediterranean Sea in [2006][2007][2008][2009][2010][2011][2012]. The numerical results consistently reproduce the interplay of hydrodynamics and biogeochemistry in both the idealized case and Mediterranean Sea experiments. The former reproduces correctly the alternation of surface bloom and deep chlorophyll maximum dynamics driven by the seasonal cycle of winter vertical mixing and summer stratification; the latter simulates the main basin-wide and mesoscale spatial features of the physical and biochemical variables in the Mediterranean, thus demonstrating the applicability of the new coupled model to a wide range of ocean biogeochemistry problems.

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Section: Results Of the Simulationsupporting

confidence: 87%

Development of BFMCOUPLER (v1.0), the coupling scheme that links the MITgcm and BFM models for ocean biogeochemistry simulations

et al. 2017

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“…The biogeochemical component is initialised using nitrate and chlorophyll vertical profiles compiled by Manca et al (2004) using EU/MEDAR/MEDATLAS II and MATER databases. The rest of the variables are initialised at low values.…”

Section: The Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors controlling interannual variability of vertical organic matter export and phytoplankton bloom dynamics – a numerical case-study for the NW Mediterranean Sea

et al. 2012

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Abstract. Mid-latitude spring blooms of phytoplankton show considerable year-to-year variability in timing, spatial extent and intensity. It is still unclear to what degree the bloom variability is connected to the magnitude of the vertical flux of organic matter. A coupled three-dimensional hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model is used to relate interannual variability in phytoplankton spring-bloom dynamics to variability in the vertical export of organic matter in the NW Mediterranean Sea. Simulation results from 2001 to 2010, validated against remote-sensing chlorophyll, show marked interannual variability in both timing and shape of the bloom. Model results show a tendency for the bloom to start later after cold and windy winters. However, the onset of the bloom occurs often when the mixed layer is still several hundred metres deep while the heat flux is already approaching zero and turbulent mixing is low. Frequency and intensity of wind episodes control both the timing and development of the bloom and the consequent export flux of organic matter. The wintertime flux is greater than zero and shows relatively low interannual variability. The magnitude of the interannual variability is mainly determined in March when the frequency of windy days positively correlates with the export flux. Frequent wind-driven mixing episodes act to increase the export flux and, at the same time, to interrupt the bloom. Perhaps counterintuitively, our analysis shows that years with discontinuous, low-chlorophyll blooms are likely to have higher export flux than years with intense uninterrupted blooms. The NW Mediterranean shows strong analogy with the North Atlantic section within the same latitude range. Hence, our results may also be applicable to this quantitatively more important area of the world ocean.

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“…8b that there are periods with a low correspondence between MOI and the salinity changes, which point to the importance of other processes. The sharp rise in salinity since 1997 may be a result of recent changes in Levantine and Aegean intermediate water characteristic (Manca et al, 2004).…”

Section: Connection To Large-scale Processesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of the Adriatic Sea to the atmospheric anomaly in 2003

Grbec

Vilibić

Bajić³

et al. 2007

Ann. Geophys.

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Abstract. Unusual weather conditions over the southern Europe and the Mediterranean area in 2003 significantly impacted the oceanographic properties of the Adriatic Sea. To document these changes, both in the atmosphere and the sea, anomalies from the normal climate were calculated. The winter 2003 was extremely cold, whereas the spring/summer period was extremely warm. The air temperature in June was more than 3 standard deviations above the average. On the other hand, precipitation and river runoff were extremely low between February and August. The response of the sea was remarkable, especially in surface salinity during spring and summer, with values at least one standard deviation above the average. Analysis of thermohaline properties in the middle Adriatic showed the importance of two phenomena responsible for the occurrence of exceptionally high salinity: (1) enhanced inflow of saline Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW) in the Adriatic, and (2) extremely low precipitation and river runoff, accompanied with strong evaporation. Two large-scale atmospheric indices: NAOI (North Atlantic Oscillation Index) and MOI (Mediterranean Oscillation Index), although generally correlated to the Adriatic climate, failed to describe anomalies in 2003. The air pressure gradients used for the definition of both indices significantly decreased in 2003 due to the presence of the high pressure areas over most of Europe and the northern Atlantic, and were actually responsible for the observed anomalies above and in the Adriatic.

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Physical and biochemical averaged vertical profiles in the Mediterranean regions: an important tool to trace the climatology of water masses and to validate incoming data from operational oceanography

Cited by 121 publications

References 46 publications

Development of BFMCOUPLER (v1.0), the coupling scheme that links the MITgcm and BFM models for ocean biogeochemistry simulations

Development of BFMCOUPLER (v1.0), the coupling scheme that links the MITgcm and BFM models for ocean biogeochemistry simulations

Factors controlling interannual variability of vertical organic matter export and phytoplankton bloom dynamics – a numerical case-study for the NW Mediterranean Sea

Response of the Adriatic Sea to the atmospheric anomaly in 2003

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