Dependence of dense filament frontogenesis in a hydrostatic model

Abstract

In this study, a hydrostatic model - the Navy Coastal Ocean Model (NCOM) is used to analyze the temporal evolution of a cold filament under moderate wind (along / cross filament) and surface cooling forcing conditions. The experimental framework adhered to the setup used in large eddy simulations by Sulllivan and McWilliams (2018). For each forcing scenario, the impact of horizontal resolutions is systematically explored through varies model resolutions of 100 m, 50 m, and 20 m; and the influence of horizontal mixing is investigated by adjusting the Smagorinsky constant within the Smagorinsky horizontal mixing scheme. The role of surface gravity waves is also assessed by conducting experiments both with and without surface wave forcing.

The outcomes of our study revealed that while the hydrostatic model is able to predict the correct characteristics/physical appearance of filament frontogenesis, it fails to capture the precise dynamics of the phenomenon. Horizontal mixing parameterization in the model was found to have marginal effect on frontogenesis, and the frontal arrest is controlled by the model's subgrid-scale artificial regularization procedure instead of horizontal shear instability. Consequently, higher resolution is corresponding to stronger frontogenesis in the model. Thus, whether the hydrostatic model can produce realistic magnitude of frontogenesis is purely dependent on the characteristic of the front/filament simulated and model resolution. Moreover, examination of the parameterized effect of surface gravity wave forcing through vertical mixing unveiled a limited impact on frontogenesis, suggesting that the parameterization falls short in representing the real physics of wave-front interaction.