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NeverWorld2: An idealized model hierarchy to investigate ocean mesoscale eddies across resolutions
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  • Gustavo Marques,
  • Nora Loose,
  • Alistair Adcroft,
  • Elizabeth Yankovsky,
  • Jacob Steinberg,
  • Stephen Griffies,
  • Robert Hallberg,
  • Neeraja Bhamidipati,
  • Baylor Fox-Kemper,
  • Hemant Khatri,
  • Malte Jansen,
  • Laure Zanna,
  • Chiung-Yin Chang
Gustavo Marques
National Center for Atmospheric Research

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Nora Loose
University of Colorado Boulder
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Alistair Adcroft
Princeton University
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Elizabeth Yankovsky
New York University
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Jacob Steinberg
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
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Stephen Griffies
NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
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Robert Hallberg
Princeton University,Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory
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Neeraja Bhamidipati
Princeton University
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Baylor Fox-Kemper
Brown University,Brown University
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Hemant Khatri
University of Liverpool
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Malte Jansen
The University of Chicago
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Laure Zanna
New York University
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Chiung-Yin Chang
Princeton University
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Abstract

We describe an idealized primitive equation model for studying mesoscale turbulence and leverage a hierarchy of grid resolutions to make eddy-resolving calculations on the finest grids more affordable. The model has intermediate complexity, incorporating basin-scale geometry with idealized Atlantic and Southern oceans, and with non-uniform ocean depth to allow for mesoscale eddy interactions with topography. The model is perfectly adiabatic and spans the equator, and thus fills a gap between quasi-geostrophic models, which cannot span two hemispheres, and idealized general circulation models, which generally have diabatic processes and buoyancy forcing. We show that the model solution is approaching convergence in mean kinetic energy for the ocean mesoscale processes of interest, and has a rich range of dynamics with circulation features that emerge only due to resolving mesoscale turbulence.