The PSY3v1 GODAE/Mercator ocean forecasting system, a global eddy permitting (1/4°) ocean model assimilating altimetry data

Marie Drévillon⁽¹⁾ , Nicolas Ferry⁽¹⁾ , Elisabeth Remy⁽¹⁾ , Eric Dombrowsky⁽¹⁾ , Nathalie Verbrugge⁽¹⁾ , Stéphanie Guinehut⁽¹⁾ , Corinne Derval⁽¹⁾ , Edmée Durand⁽¹⁾ , Gilles Garric⁽¹⁾ , Benoit Tranchant⁽¹⁾ , Mounir Benkiran⁽¹⁾ , Eric Greiner⁽¹⁾ , and Jean-michel Lellouche⁽¹⁾

⁽¹⁾ Mercator-Ocean, 8-10 rue hermès, 31520 ramonville st agne, France

Abstract

The Mercator-Ocean eddy permitting global ocean Prototype System (PSY3v1), assimilating satellite altimetry data, is the french contribution to the GODAE project for the global ocean, and the MERSEA project for operational systems, and is operated weekly since the end of 2005 to deliver oceanic forecasts of two weeks. The system has a 1/4° horizontal resolution and 46 levels on the vertical (ORCA025), and is forced with daily surface fluxes from ECMWF operational analyses, and constrained with JASON, ERS and GFO altimetry measurements from january 2005 up to real-time. Due to its fine resolution, the assimilation system provides an integrated description of the ocean with a realistic description of the meso scale features. Assimilation scores are presented, and independant in situ data of the Atlantic, Pacific and Antarctic ocean basins are contrasted with the simulation results in order to provide an estimation of the performances of the system. The results are also compared with the Levitus climatology, and with the 2003 ARMOR weekly products, which optimally combine satellite (SST, SLA) and in-situ (T/S profiles) near real time observations.

Workshop presentation

Last modified: 07.10.03