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Ann. Geophys., 21, 345-364, 2003
www.ann-geophys.net/21/345/2003/
© European Geosciences Union 2003
The Adriatic Sea modelling system: a nested approach
M. Zavatarelli and N. Pinardi
Università degli Studi di Bologna, Laboratorio di Simulazioni Numeriche del Clima e degli Ecosistemi Marini, Piazza J. F. Kennedy 12, Palazzo Rasponi, I-40800 Ravenna, Italy
Abstract. A modelling system for
the Adriatic Sea has been built within the framework of the Mediterranean
Forecasting System Pilot Project. The modelling system consists of a hierarchy
of three numerical models (whole Mediterranean Sea, whole Adriatic Sea,
Northern Adriatic Basin) coupled among each other by simple one-way, off-line
nesting techniques, to downscale the larger scale flow field to highly resolved
coastal scale fields. Numerical simulations have been carried out under
climatological surface forcing. Simulations were aimed to assess the
effectiveness of the nesting techniques and the skill of the system to
reproduce known features of the Adriatic Sea circulation phenomenology (main
circulation features, dense water formation,flow at the Otranto Strait and
coastal circulation characteristics over the northern Adriatic shelf), in view
of the pre-operational use of the modelling system. This paper describes the
modelling system setup, and discusses the simulation results for the whole
Adriatic Sea and its northern basin, comparing the simulations with the
observed climatological circulation characteristics. Results obtained with the
northern Adriatic model are also compared with the corresponding simulations
obtained with the coarser resolution Adriatic model.
Key words. Oceanography: general
(continental shelf processes; numerical modelling) – Oceanography: physical
(general circulation)
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