Coupled ocean-atmosphere response to seasonal modulation of ocean color

Joaquim Ballabrera

ESSIC
Abstract:

In this talk I will introduce our research about the ability of using remote sensed ocean color data to parameterize biogenic heating in a hybrid coupled ocean-atmosphere model recently developed at ESSIC/University of Maryland. I will focus on the impact of accounting for the seasonal cycle of the penetration of solar radiation in such a model. Our results show that accounting for a realistic distribution of
the penetration of solar radiation impacts the biases of the model and the seasonal cycle, reducing the errors of SST, thermocline depth, and the Southern Equatorial Current. The seasonal cycle of the attenuation
depth leads to a significant improvement of the interannual variability of the SST.