Sensitivity experiments on ocean temperature predictions with a thermodynamic climate model

Abstract

A thermodynamic climate ocean-atmosphere model is used to predict the anomalies of surface ocean temperaturas for periods of a month in the Northern Hemisphere. Numerical experiments are carried out to calibrate sorne oceanographic parameters of the model and to estimate the importance, in the predictions, of the horizontal transport of heat by pure wind drift mean ocean currents and by large scale eddies, associated with a horizontal "austausch" coefficient, as well as of the heating dueto evaporation, sensible heat given off to the atmosphere and radiation. A verification in the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans, for the 24 month period from June 1980 to May 1982, shows good skill in the predictions.