MITgcm Alboran Sea 2007-2008 TSUVW

Raw binary files for daily potential temperature (Tave), salinity (Save), and velocity (UVW) from the MITgcm in hydrostatic mode (Marshall et al. 1997), configured similarly to Sanchez- Garrido et al. (2013) but with increased horizontal resolution in the western Alboran. This model solves the Boussinesq form of the Navier-Stokes equations for an incompressible fluid with a finite-volume spatial discretization on a curvilinear grid with typical horizontal resolution of 1- 3km. The vertical grid has 5m resolution at the surface, decreasing with depth to 403m, for a total of 46 levels. The model domain includes the Strait of Gibraltar and has open boundaries in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

Surface forcings are the ERA-Interim reanalysis daily heat and salt fluxes at 0.75km resolution, and the IFREMER CERSAT 6-hourly 10m Global Blended Mean Wind Fields at 1/4-degree. Open east and west ocean boundaries are forced with daily 1/12-degree velocity, salinity, and temperature from the Atlantic-Iberian Biscay Irish-Ocean Physics Reanalysis with a sponge layer of 80 km width and a 1 hour relaxation timescale.

Initial conditions for temperature and salinity are from the September model output from Sanchez-Garrido et al. (2013), but averaged over the full month and the latitudinal extent of the basin, leaving only east-west and vertical gradients; this smoothing allowed a more stable circulation to develop. The model was spun up for 55 simulated days without atmospheric forcing and with constant fall 2007 average ocean boundary conditions. Over 75 further simulated days, mean fall 2007 atmospheric forcing was added, followed by a transition to mean October and then November forcing for both the atmosphere and ocean boundaries. After this total of 130 days spinup, the fully-forced simulation began running from November 1, 2007. The model run ends December 31 2008.