Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors
Knowledge of the height of the sea surface above the geoid would allow one to determine the associated geostrophic surface currents and help to quantify subsurface currents and heat transports that regulate the Earth's climate. Such a determination is presently hampered by our inability to accu...
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ftubristolcris:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:publications/d9c979fe-3b3c-4d97-806d-7e40745f07d0 2024-01-28T10:07:21+01:00 Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors Bingham, Rory Haines, Keith 2004-12-01 https://hdl.handle.net/1983/d9c979fe-3b3c-4d97-806d-7e40745f07d0 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/d9c979fe-3b3c-4d97-806d-7e40745f07d0 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=22144441404&partnerID=8YFLogxK eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Bingham , R & Haines , K 2004 , ' Mean dynamic topography : Inter-comparisons and errors ' , European Space Agency, (Special Publication) ESA SP , no. 569 , pp. 231-236 . article 2004 ftubristolcris 2024-01-04T23:57:42Z Knowledge of the height of the sea surface above the geoid would allow one to determine the associated geostrophic surface currents and help to quantify subsurface currents and heat transports that regulate the Earth's climate. Such a determination is presently hampered by our inability to accurately measure the geoid, especially over the open ocean. In anticipation of a future mean dynamic topography (MDT) provided by combining altimetry and a GOCE geoid, this paper compares the MDTs of several ocean models in the important North Atlantic and Nordic Seas region (focus area of the EU GOCINA project). Each of the models used in this study assimilates hydrography, which is an essential requirement for a model to accurately interpolate the data and provide a realistic MDT. The available MDTs differ in resolution and time period; both these issues are addressed. A composite MDT is formed from the individual MDTs, and we assess the uncertainty in the composite MDT, and in the associated geostrophic surface currents. We find a remarkable level of agreement between this suite of model MDTs. The uncertainty in the composite MDT is less than 4cm over most of the study region, and the uncertainty in the associated geostrophic surface velocities is of the order 2cm/s. These uncertainties can be used as error estimates when comparing with satellite derived MDTs, to judge consistency. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nordic Seas North Atlantic University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
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Open Polar |
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University of Bristol: Bristol Research |
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ftubristolcris |
language |
English |
description |
Knowledge of the height of the sea surface above the geoid would allow one to determine the associated geostrophic surface currents and help to quantify subsurface currents and heat transports that regulate the Earth's climate. Such a determination is presently hampered by our inability to accurately measure the geoid, especially over the open ocean. In anticipation of a future mean dynamic topography (MDT) provided by combining altimetry and a GOCE geoid, this paper compares the MDTs of several ocean models in the important North Atlantic and Nordic Seas region (focus area of the EU GOCINA project). Each of the models used in this study assimilates hydrography, which is an essential requirement for a model to accurately interpolate the data and provide a realistic MDT. The available MDTs differ in resolution and time period; both these issues are addressed. A composite MDT is formed from the individual MDTs, and we assess the uncertainty in the composite MDT, and in the associated geostrophic surface currents. We find a remarkable level of agreement between this suite of model MDTs. The uncertainty in the composite MDT is less than 4cm over most of the study region, and the uncertainty in the associated geostrophic surface velocities is of the order 2cm/s. These uncertainties can be used as error estimates when comparing with satellite derived MDTs, to judge consistency. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bingham, Rory Haines, Keith |
spellingShingle |
Bingham, Rory Haines, Keith Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors |
author_facet |
Bingham, Rory Haines, Keith |
author_sort |
Bingham, Rory |
title |
Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors |
title_short |
Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors |
title_full |
Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors |
title_fullStr |
Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mean dynamic topography:Inter-comparisons and errors |
title_sort |
mean dynamic topography:inter-comparisons and errors |
publishDate |
2004 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/1983/d9c979fe-3b3c-4d97-806d-7e40745f07d0 https://research-information.bris.ac.uk/en/publications/d9c979fe-3b3c-4d97-806d-7e40745f07d0 http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=22144441404&partnerID=8YFLogxK |
genre |
Nordic Seas North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Nordic Seas North Atlantic |
op_source |
Bingham , R & Haines , K 2004 , ' Mean dynamic topography : Inter-comparisons and errors ' , European Space Agency, (Special Publication) ESA SP , no. 569 , pp. 231-236 . |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
_version_ |
1789334935963697152 |