28.1.1 ideal_thermocline

An idealized equatorial thermocline from Philander and Pacanowski (1980) is approximated by a function dependent on depth but not latitude or longitude. Salinity is held constant at 35 ppt and the temperature profile is given by

 

$$\overline{t}_{k} = T_{\circ} \left[ 1-\tanh \left( \frac{zt_k-H_\circ}{Z_\circ} \right) \right] + T_1 \left(1-\frac{zt_k}{zt_{km}} \right)$$ (28.1)

where $H_\circ=80 \mbox{x} 10^2$ cm, $Z_\circ = 30 \mbox{x} 10^2 cm$, $T_\circ=7.5 \; ^\circ C$ and $T_1=10.0 \; ^\circ C$. The intent is to initialize idealized equatorial models. It is also useful to use option sponges which damps the solution back to Equation (28.1) along the northern and southern boundaries to kill off Kelvin waves. Simple idealized windstress can also be set using options constant_taux and constant_tauy. Refer to these options for more details.