Author:
Kieran T.A. O'Driscoll,Vladimir M. Kamenkovich, Dmitri A. Nechaev

Abstract:
The basic properties of a developed regional model of the circulation of the Indonesian Seas are outlined. The model, based on the Princeton Ocean Model, has 250x250 grid cells in the horizontal with grid spacing of 10km and 29 -levels in the vertical. It is well known that the complex topography of the region strongly in uences temperature, salinity and currents distributions there. One of the signicant properties of this model is that all basic topographic features are resolved. The model has four open ports to simulate in ow of North Pacic Water from the Mindanao Current, in ow of South Pacic Water from the New Guinea Coastal Current, out ow to the Pacic Ocean due to the North Equatorial Counter Current, and to the Indian Ocean due to the Indonesian Through Flow. Total transports through the open ports and port normal velocities are specied from observations. Orlanski's conditions are employed at the open ports with port normal velocity nudged to observed values and temperature and salinity to climatology. Port channels are introduced so the effects of open boundary conditions do not impact the dynamics of the main region. An additional friction was included in the vicinity of some narrow passages and sills as a proxy for specic processes such as tides and internal waves that occur within these topographic features. Four experiments are discussed: seasonally varying and annual mean transports and port normal velocities both with and without local winds. All experiments are totally spun up after 10 years. This analysis uses data from the post spin up period only. The basic properties of simulated total transports through the main passages in the region, surface circulation and sea-surface heights are discussed. The portion of North Pacifc Water entering the Indonesian Seas relative to that leaving through the North Equatorial Counter Current port is fairly constant throughout the year. Most of this water takes the western route through the Makassar Strait. The portion of South Pacifc Water entering the Halmahera Sea compared to that exiting in the North Equatorial Counter Current varies considerably with the seasons. Turning of the local winds does not substantially in uence the transport through main passages in the model domain. Surface circulation patterns change substantially with the seasons. The role of dierent terms in the heat and salt equations was investigated by dividing the region into a number of boxes. For any given box, the sum of the horizontal advective fluxes of temperature (salinity) through all sides of the box is on the same order as the vertical heat (salt) flux at the surface, interior nudging term, and the rate of time variation of the box integrated temperature (salinity). The comparison of the basic structure of the model surface circulation, sea-surface heights and total transport values through the main passages with observations appears satisfactory

Institution:

• U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, U.S.A.


• Department of Marine Science, The University of Southern Mississippi, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, U.S.A.

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Technorati : Equatorial Counter Current, Halmahera Sea, Indian Ocean, Indonesian Seas, Indonesian Through Flow, Makassar Strait, Mindanao Current, Pacifc Water, Princeton Ocean Model, circulation model, currents distributions, distributions, salinity distributions, sea-surface, temperature distributions, topographic features
Del.icio.us : Equatorial Counter Current, Halmahera Sea, Indian Ocean, Indonesian Seas, Indonesian Through Flow, Makassar Strait, Mindanao Current, Pacifc Water, Princeton Ocean Model, circulation model, currents distributions, distributions, salinity distributions, sea-surface, temperature distributions, topographic features
Ice Rocket : Equatorial Counter Current, Halmahera Sea, Indian Ocean, Indonesian Seas, Indonesian Through Flow, Makassar Strait, Mindanao Current, Pacifc Water, Princeton Ocean Model, circulation model, currents distributions, distributions, salinity distributions, sea-surface, temperature distributions, topographic features
Flickr : Equatorial Counter Current, Halmahera Sea, Indian Ocean, Indonesian Seas, Indonesian Through Flow, Makassar Strait, Mindanao Current, Pacifc Water, Princeton Ocean Model, circulation model, currents distributions, distributions, salinity distributions, sea-surface, temperature distributions, topographic features
Zooomr : Equatorial Counter Current, Halmahera Sea, Indian Ocean, Indonesian Seas, Indonesian Through Flow, Makassar Strait, Mindanao Current, Pacifc Water, Princeton Ocean Model, circulation model, currents distributions, distributions, salinity distributions, sea-surface, temperature distributions, topographic features
Buzznet : Equatorial Counter Current, Halmahera Sea, Indian Ocean, Indonesian Seas, Indonesian Through Flow, Makassar Strait, Mindanao Current, Pacifc Water, Princeton Ocean Model, circulation model, currents distributions, distributions, salinity distributions, sea-surface, temperature distributions, topographic features