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Inverse estimation of empirical parameters used in a regional ocean circulation model

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Abstract

Significant impacts of the subgridscale parameterizations have been emphasized in modeling the ocean circulations, but various different parameter values are applied to similar numerical studies often without any justification. This study objectively estimates a set of empirical parameters along with their uncertainty for circulation modeling of the East Asian Marginal Seas. The solutions for 14 major parameters are obtained by using model Green’s functions with constraints of climatological temperature and salinity data. The largest cost function reduction occurs in the eastern Japan Sea associated with the sharp gradient of the Polar Front. The calibrated parameters are also validated with realistic transport and path of the Kuroshio in the final experiment. The inverse estimation shows that freshwater discharges from small rivers can be attributed to the coastal precipitation over a strip of land 74–81 km wide. The thickness diffusion coefficient may be similar to the isopycnal and horizontal diffusion coefficients in their magnitude. The accelerated initial condition also contributes to the cost function reduction resulting in weaker trends of deep temperature. Most importantly, estimated scaling factors suggest a significant reduction of the reanalyzed wind stress data for more realistic ocean circulations. Possible reasons for the momentum missing are also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Naoto Ebuchi (Hokkaido University), Akira Masuda, Katsuto Uehara (Kyushu University), Yign Noh (Yonsei University), Yu-heng Tseng (National Taiwan University), Victor Zlotnicki and Lee-Leung Fu (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) for their valuable comments and suggestions on this study. The author would also like to thank the Japan Oceanographic Data Center (JODC), Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC), and National Geophysical Data Center (NGDC) for providing useful datasets. Many drawings were made with Grid Analysis and Display System (GrADS). This study was a part of the Data assimilation Research of the East Asian Marine System (DREAMS) project supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research and also by Research and Development Projects for Application in Promoting New Policy of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries, Japan.

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  1. Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University, Kasuga, Fukuoka, 816-8580, Japan

    Naoki Hirose

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  1. Naoki Hirose
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Correspondence to Naoki Hirose.

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Hirose, N. Inverse estimation of empirical parameters used in a regional ocean circulation model. J Oceanogr 67, 323–336 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-011-0041-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10872-011-0041-4

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