A nonhydrostatic oceanic regional model, ORCTM v1, for internal solitary wave simulation
Hao Huang, Pengyang Song, Shi Qiu, Jiaqi Guo, Xueen Chen
Abstract
Abstract. The Oceanic Regional Circulation and Tide Model (ORCTM), including a nonhydrostatic dynamics module which can numerically reproduce internal solitary wave (ISW) dynamics, is presented in this paper. The performance of a baroclinic tidal simulation is also examined in regional modeling with open boundary conditions. The model control equations are characterized by three-dimensional and fully nonlinear forms considering incompressible Boussinesq fluid in Z coordinates. The pressure field is decomposed into the surface, hydrostatic, and nonhydrostatic components on the orthogonal curvilinear Arakawa-C grid. The nonhydrostatic pressure determined by the intermediate velocity divergence field is obtained via solving a three-dimensional Poisson equation based on a pressure correction method. Model validation experiments for ISW simulations with the topographic change in the two-layer and continuously stratified ocean demonstrate that ORCTM has a considerable capacity for reproducing the life cycle of internal solitary wave evolution and tide–topography interactions.