A coastal air-ocean coupled system for the East Asian marginal seas

Abstract

A coastal air-ocean coupled system (CAOCS) that includes the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) as the oceanic component and the Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU/NCAR) Mesoscale Model Fifth Generation (MM5) as the atmospheric component was developed for the East Asian Marginal Seas (EAMS) â a littoral environment that is a common operating area for the United States Navy (USN). CAOCS output verified against surface wind data from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and sea surface temperature (SST)/Sea Surface Salinity (SSS) data collected from buoy stations. CAOCS output clearly shows the significance of atmospheric and oceanic mesoscale features and their associated airsea interaction processes such as coastal upwelling, Ekman transport, and enhancement of upward vertical motion during cyclogenesis. These mesoscale features and air-sea interaction processes occur during periods prior to summer monsoon onset as well as during time periods following summer monsoon onset. The study provides support that CAOCS does perform well in forecasting EAMS surface current circulation, SST/SSS structure, surface wind stress, and low- level atmospheric structure. Some weaknesses of CAOCS were identified that will aid in future improvement of the model.