EGU24-10077, updated on 08 Mar 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10077
EGU General Assembly 2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Parameterized internal wave mixing in three ocean general circulation models

Nils Brüggemann1, Martin Losch2, Patrick Scholz2, Friederike Pollmann3, Sergey Danilov2, Oliver Gutjahr1, Johann Jungclaus1, Nikolay Koldunov2, Peter Korn1, Dirk Olbers2, and Carsten Eden3
Nils Brüggemann et al.
  • 1Max Planck Institute, The Ocean in the Earth System , Hamburg, Germany (nils.brueggemann@mpimet.mpg.de)
  • 2Alfred Wegener Institute, Bremerhave, Germany
  • 3Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

We evaluate the parameterization IDEMIX for vertical mixing by breaking internal gravity waves in three different non-eddy resolving ocean models, namely ICON-O, FESOM and MITgcm. 
To assess the impact of the new closure, we prescribe three different products for wave forcing by tidal flow over topography that encompass the current uncertainty of this process. 
We compare these sensitivity simulations with a reference simulation without IDEMIX of each model and analyze the model-independent effects on the ocean circulation and mixing.
In particular, we observe a stronger mixing work once IDEMIX is used which better agrees with observations.
Coherent model responses to the stronger mixing work from IDEMIX are a deepening of thermocline depth, a warming of the upper-ocean thermocline water masses and an increased strength of the upper Atlantic overturning cell.

How to cite: Brüggemann, N., Losch, M., Scholz, P., Pollmann, F., Danilov, S., Gutjahr, O., Jungclaus, J., Koldunov, N., Korn, P., Olbers, D., and Eden, C.: Parameterized internal wave mixing in three ocean general circulation models, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-10077, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-10077, 2024.