Seasonal variability of the Northwestern Pacific Marginal Seas. Part I. Physical model simulation results

Abstract

In this study, we applied the 3-dimensional POLCOMS ocean circulation model for the coupling with the ERSEM biogeochemical model as an initial attempt for the coupled simulation in the northwestern Pacific marginal seas. The model domain covers the whole marginal seas in the northwestern Pacific as well as the Kuroshio and Oyashio mainstream which are the major influencing boundary currents in the area. The seasonal cycle of physical variables are extracted from the 10 year (1992-2001) simulation results discarding the first 3 years of model run. The surface temperature seasonal cycle is well simulated in all the marginal seas but the skill score of the surface salinity in the northern Okhotsk Sea and the Chinese coastal region was not good enough. And to evaluate the tide simulation performance, four tidal constituents (M2, S2, O1, K1) in the coastal tidal stations except for the Okhotsk Sea have been compared with the model results. It is shown that the general performance is reasonable. It is encouraging that the volume transports in the major straits and their seasonal variation is simulated well as well as the Kuroshio.overs the whole marginal seas in the northwestern Pacific as well as the Kuroshio and Oyashio mainstream which are the major influencing boundary currents in the area. The seasonal cycle of physical variables are extracted from the 10 year (1992-2001) simulation results discarding the first 3 years of model run. The surface temperature seasonal cycle is well simulated in all the marginal seas but the skill score of the surface salinity in the northern Okhotsk Sea and the Chinese coastal region was not good enough. And to evaluate the tide simulation performance, four tidal constituents (M2, S2, O1, K1) in the coastal tidal stations except for the Okhotsk Sea have been compared with the model results. It is shown that the general performance is reasonable. It is encouraging that the volume transports in the major straits and their seasonal variation is simulated well as well as the Kuroshio.