Éditeur(s) : Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh
Résumé : Boundary Exchange (BE - exchange of elements between continental margins and the open ocean) has been emphasized as a key process in the oceanic cycle of neodymium (Nd) (Lacan and Jeandel, 2005a). Here, we use a regional eddy-permitting resolution Ocean General Circulation Model (1/4A degrees) of the North Atlantic basin to simulate the distribution of the Nd isotopic composition, considering BE as the only source. Results show good agreement with the data, confirming previous results obtained using the same parameterization of the source in a coarse resolution global model (Arsouze et al., 2007), and therefore the major control played by the BE processes in the Nd cycle on the regional scale. We quantified the exchange rate of the BE, and found that the time needed for the continental margins to significantly imprint the chemical composition of the surrounding seawater (further referred as characteristic exchange time) is of the order of 0.2 years. However, the timescale of the BE may be subject to large variations as a very short exchange time (a few days) is needed to reproduce the highly negative values of surface waters in the Labrador Sea, whereas a longer one (up to 0.5 years) is required to simulate the radiogenic influence of basaltic margins and distinguish the negative isotopic signatures of North Atlantic Deep Water from the more radiogenic southern origin water masses. This likely represents geographical variations in erosion fluxes and the subsequent particle load onto the continental margins. Although the parameterization of the BE is the same in both configurations of the model, the characteristic exchange time in the eddy-permitting configuration is significantly lower than the previous evaluations using a low resolution configuration (6 months to 10 years), but however in agreement with the available seawater Nd isotope data. This results highlights the importance of the model dynamics in simulating the BE process.
Ocean Science (1812-0784) (Copernicus Gesellschaft Mbh), 2010 , Vol. 6 , N. 3 , P. 789-797

Droits : Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed, EGU
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00013/12412/9201.pdf
DOI:10.5194/os-6-789-2010
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00013/12412/

Éditeur(s) : Springer
Résumé : Series of sensitivity tests were performed with a z-coordinate, global eddy-permitting (1/4 degrees) ocean/sea-ice model (the ORCA-R025 model configuration developed for the DRAKKAR project) to carefully evaluate the impact of recent state-of-the-art numerical schemes on model solutions. The combination of an energy-enstrophy conserving (EEN) scheme for momentum advection with a partial step (PS) representation of the bottom topography yields significant improvements in the mean circulation. Well known biases in the representation of western boundary currents, such as in the Atlantic the detachment of the Gulf Stream, the path of the North Atlantic Current, the location of the Confluence, and the strength of the Zapiola Eddy in the south Atlantic, are partly corrected. Similar improvements are found in the Pacific, Indian, and Southern Oceans, and characteristics of the mean flow are generally much closer to observations. Comparisons with other state-of-the-art models show that the ORCA-R025 configuration generally performs better at similar resolution. In addition, the model solution is often comparable to solutions obtained at 1/6 or 1/10 degrees resolution in some aspects concerning mean flow patterns and distribution of eddy kinetic energy. Although the reasons for these improvements are not analyzed in detail in this paper, evidence is shown that the combination of EEN with PS reduces numerical noise near the bottom, which is likely to affect current-topography interactions in a systematic way. We conclude that significant corrections of the mean biases presently seen in general circulation model solutions at eddy-permitting resolution can still be expected from the development of numerical methods, which represent an alternative to increasing resolution.
Ocean Dynamics (1616-7341) (Springer), 2006-12 , Vol. 56 , N. 5-6 , P. 543-567

Droits : © Springer 2006. Part of Springer Science+Business Media
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2006/publication-3514.pdf
DOI:10.1007/s10236-006-0082-1
http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00000/3514/

Éditeur(s) : HAL CCSD
Résumé : Meteorological phenomena with scales lower than hurricanes, from extreme rainfalls to pollution peaks, represent important environmental and health risks in the Caribbean. These examples show the need to downscale large-scale meteorological data to island-scale fields.The main goal of the present numerical study is the analysis of the meso- and micro-scale mechanisms inducing diurnal and nocturnal circulations in the Guadeloupe archipelago. The Weather Research and Forecasting model is employed. The micro-scale results are obtained by the coupling of the 1-km simulated fields and the Large Eddy Simulation method. Then, in order to analyze the dispersion of a pollutants plume, the micro-scale outputs with 111 m of resolution are used to force the lagrangian particles dispersion model FLEXPART. The study has been conducted for three real cases of weather types linked with strong, medium and weak trade winds.The results of simulations, validated with available observed data, permitted to simulate all local circulations, including a nocturnal counter-current flow which may induce a pollution peak in the urban area of Pointe-à-Pitre city.These works, which may be applied to other Lesser Antilles islands, suggest many environmental and energy applications.
Les phénomènes météorologiques d'échelles inférieures aux cyclones, depuis les pluies intenses, jusqu'à la dégradation de la qualité de l'air, ont pour les Caraïbes une importance aiguë en termes de risques naturels ou de risques sur la santé. Ces exemples attestent de la nécessité d'utiliser des méthodes de descentes d'échelle pour exploiter l'information météorologique de grande échelle et dériver des scénarios locaux appliqués aux territoires insulaires. Les travaux présentés ont pour principaux objectifs la simulation numérique et l'analyse des mécanismes méso- et micro-échelles qui induisent des circulations locales diurnes et nocturnes sur l'archipel de la Guadeloupe, à l'aide du modèle numérique météorologique Weather Research and Forecasting. Les résultats des simulations micro-échelles sont obtenus par le couplage des champs modélisés à 1 km avec la méthode Large Eddy Simulation. Les sorties micro-échelles, à 111 m, sont ensuite utilisées pour forcer le modèle lagrangien de dispersion de particules FLEXPART afin d'étudier la dispersion d'un panache de polluants. L'étude a été menée pour trois cas réels de situations météorologiques correspondant à des alizés soutenus, moyens et faibles. Les résultats des simulations, après validation, et comparaison aux données d'observation disponibles, permettent de restituer l'ensemble des circulations locales et soulignent l'existence d'un écoulement nocturne à contre courant susceptible d'induire une forte pollution sur la zone urbaine de Pointe-à-Pitre. Cette étude, transposable aux autres îles des petites Antilles, laisse envisager de nombreuses applications environnementales et énergétiques.
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01074600

Droits : info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
tel-01074600
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01074600
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01074600/document
https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01074600/file/rcece_thesis.pdf