Verification Experiments with an Isopycnal Coordinate Ocean Model

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Abstract
The approximate conservation of density along trajectories in the upper thermocline, indicated by the observed distribution of water mass properties, suggests that isopycnal coordinates would Provide a more economical framework than conventional Eulerian coordinates. An approximate analytic solution for a wind-driven circulation in a reduced gravity model is used as a prototype for testing a numerical model based on isopycnal coordinates. The numerical solutions are successful in reproducing the outcropping pattern of the analytic solutions. The application of the flux-corrected transport algorithm significantly reduces implied diffusivity relative to a first-order donor cell scheme.