Third International Workshop

NONLINEAR PROCESSES IN OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC FLOWS


6-8 July 2016 | ICMAT, Campus Cantoblanco UAM, Madrid, Spain



Modelling Oceanic Dispersion : an application to the Lagrangian Transport in the Sicily Channel



Author

Alessandra S. Lanotte (CNR-Istituto di Scienze dell'Atmosfera e del Clima).


PDF version


Abstract


A correct description of Lagrangian dispersion in the ocean has great relevance, but it is a delicate task because of the finite space and time resolution of the circulation models. These are mostly affected by two main limitations: i) unresolved scale motions, and mesoscale motions that are largely smoothed out at scales close to the grid spacing; (ii) poorly resolved time variability in the profiles of the horizontal velocities in the upper layer. In the talk, I will discuss how we can use observations to improve numerical modeling of dispersion processes. As an application, I will discuss a case of Lagrangian transport in the Central Mediterranean Region.

A correct description of Lagrangian dispersion in the ocean has great relevance, but it is a delicate task because of the finite space and time resolution of the circulation models. These are mostly affected by two main limitations: i) unresolved scale motions, and mesoscale motions that are largely smoothed out at scales close to the grid spacing; (ii) poorly resolved time variability in the profiles of the horizontal velocities in the upper layer. In the talk, I will discuss how we can use observations to improve numerical modeling of dispersion processes. As an application, I will discuss a case of Lagrangian transport in the Central Mediterranean Region.


Presentation PDF