Abstract:
A mesoscale resolution version of the Hamburg Shelf Ocean Model
(HAMSOM) was developed at the Institute of Oceanography,
University of Hamburg for the North Sea region. Based on the IPCC
scenario A1B, a projected forecast of hydrodynamic conditions in the
North Sea region will be simulated by the shelf ocean model
HAMSOM for the 21st century. To drive the HAMSOM model, oceanic
forcing variables as well as atmospheric forcing variables are prescribed
at the open lateral boundaries of the North Sea domain and at the air-sea
interface, respectively. Since the atmospheric variables show a large
temporal variability and since the North Sea reacts sensitively on
changes in the atmospheric forcing, a validation of the atmospheric
forcing variables was carried out. All forcing variables are created by a
free model run (MPI-OM and REMO) without any data assimilation
incorporated and hence, a direct comparison of single data sets with any
hindcast data is not applicable. Thus, for the validation monthly
climatological means of the REMO data were compared with monthly
climatological means of reanalysis data (NCEP and ERA40) for the
period 1958-2000. A comparable study for the North Sea using other
forcing data and a coarser model resolution has been performed.
