Ocean General Circulation Models (OCGM) have been used for ocean forecasts and reanalysis in the past; successfully reproducing realistic large scale features such as Western Boundary Currents (WBC) which evolve slowly in time. Recent developments of three dimensional OCGM’s include the incorporation of tidal forcing embedded in the numerical integration. With the inclusion of higher frequency tidal forcing it is now possible to study the impact of tides on the larger scale features of the ocean reproduced in the OCGM’s such as WBC’s through comparison of simulations with and without tides. We compare two 1/12.5° simulations of the Hybrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) and report on differences in the mean position, transports, and warm/cold core eddy production in the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio Current and their extensions across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
