A Volume and Mass Conserving Ocean Model for Climate Studies

This project is part of the ONE Planet DTP. Find out more here: https://research.ncl.ac.uk/one-planet/


For technical reasons, current ocean models employed in climate research use what is called the Boussinesq approximation. Under this approximation, the models conserve the volume of the ocean instead of its mass. This apparently arcane, technical problem is, in fact, a significant drawback, as a result of which ocean climate models are unable to directly represent the changes in sea level caused by the thermal and haline (salinity related) changes in sea level caused by global warming. The theoretical and numerical tools required to incorporate mass conservation in ocean models have been known for a long time but are not incorporated in the current generation of ocean models that are used for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessments. In this project, we will introduce a non-Boussinesq, and hence mass conserving, scheme in the Nucleus for European Modelling of the Ocean (NEMO) and we will perform medium range simulations (decadal to centennial scale) at intermediate resolutions (~half a degree) to evaluate the impact on the simulated long term sea level trends and water mass distributions of this more realistic formulation of the ocean dynamics. The project will involve collaboration with the National Oceanography Centre in Liverpool and Southampton. The student will be trained in oceanography and ocean modelling, and will develop numerical, programming, scripting and high-performance computing skills in Linux

Master’s or Bachelor’s degree in a mathematical-based subject (e.g. maths, physics, oceanography, geophysics, engineering, surveying), preferably including experience in computer programming and/or scripting
For more information, please contact Miguel A. Morales Maqueda ([Email Address Removed]).