Modeling the California Current System mesoscale observations:
eddy dynamics and limits in predictability
Di Lorenzo E., Miller A.J., Nielson D.J., Cornuelle B.
Scripps Institute of Oceanography
Moisan J.R.
NASA/GSFC Wallops Flight Facility
Hydrographic and ADCP surveys of temperature, salinity and velocity from
CalCOFI surveys, altimetric measurements of sea level and drifter
observations of temperature and velocity during the 1997-98 El Nino are
now being fit using a Green's function technique (strong constraints) with
an eddy-resolving ocean model (ROMS) of the Southern California Bight
(SCB) region to obtain dynamically consistent estimates of eddy
variability and to asses what physics sets the spatial/time scale of
predictability in the coastal ocean. Skill evaluations are quantified by
the model-data mismatch (rms error) during the fitting interval and after
the forecasting of independent data.