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MERSEA Ocean Systems and Partners Model Overview

TOPAZ, FOAM, MERCATOR, MFS and HYCOM US forecasting systems differ in many way.

The following table gives a brief overview of individual characteristics of the ocean forecasting systems.

Foam (United Kingdom)
(model overview, history file, official web site,
access to data, MED and NAT interface manuals)
  • Hadley Centre
    Z coordinate / Rigid Lid, dynamical & thermodynamical sea-ice model,
    5 months spin up & Kraus-Turner mixing.

  • North Atlantic, Artic ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Shelf Seas,
    (10° to 70°N, coast to coast),
    Horiz. 1/9° (12 km), Verti. 20 depth levels.

  • 6 Hourly NWP-MetOffice forcing,
    Weak relaxation to Levitus SST and SSS,
    No relaxation to the Mediterranean outflow
    No river runoff,
    Data assimilation stopped in coastal areas from depth 300m towards the coast.

  • Copper& Haines Optimal Interpolation,
    Assimilated once a week along-track SLA (Jason-1, GFO, Envisat),
    Assimilated once a day 2.5° gridded SST (ARGOS), T+S profiles at all depths,
    Gridded ice concentration,
    MeanSSH from previous run.

 		Mercator (France)
(model overview, history file, official web site,
access to data,interface manual)
  • OPA
    Z coordinate / Rigid Lid, simple thermodynamic & sea-ice model,
    15 days spin up + TKE mixing.

  • North Atlantic, Azores, and Mediterranean Sea,
    (10° to 70°N, coast to coast),
    Horiz. 1/15° (5-7 km), Verti. 43 depth levels.

  • Daily ECMWF forcing,
    Relaxation to Reynolds SST and Reynaud SSS,
    Relaxation to Medatlas (T,S) in Gulf of Cadiz below 500m,
    Monthly river runoff,
    Data assimilation stopped in coastal areas from depth 500m towards the coast.

  • SOFA reduced order Optimal Interpolation,
    Assimilated once a week along-track SLA (Jason-1, GFO, ERS-2/Envisat),
    MeanSSH from Rio et al.
Topaz (Norway)
(model overview, history file, official web site,
access to data, interface manual)
  • HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM)
    hybrid coordinates / free surface, dynamic & thermodynamic sea ice model,
    20 years spin up, KPP mixing.

  • North Atlantic, Nordic seas and Artic ocean,
    Horiz. from 20 to 30 km, Verti. 22 hybrid layers,
    Artic and Atlantic till 60°S.

  • 6 hourly ECMWF forcings (bulk formulae momentum & heat),
    Closed boundaries without relaxation, no mediterranean basin,
    Precipitation climatology + relaxation to Levitus SSS climatology (60 days),
    No river runoff,
    Data assimilation stopped in coastal areas from depth 300m towards the coast.

  • Ensemble Kalman Filter (ENKF) assimilation method,
    Assimilated once a week SLA gridded maps (SSALTO/DUACS),
    Assimilated once a week SST from CLS AVHRR data,
    Maps of ice concentration,
    MeanSSH from OCCAM run.

 		MFS (ITALY)
(model overview, history file, official web site,
access to data, interface manual)
  • Modular Ocean Model (MOM-1),
    Z coord./Rigid Lid, no ice model,
    7 years spin up, constant vertical mixing and vertical adjustment.

  • Mediterranean Sea,
    Horiz. 1/8°, Verti. 31 depth levels,
    Only Mediterranean basin, transport through Gilbratar parameterized.

  • 6 hourly ECMWF forcings (bulk formulae momentum & heat),
    Relaxation to satellite night time Medatlas SST and SSS climatology,
    No river runoff,
    Data assimilation stopped in coastal areas from depth 1000m towards the coast.

  • SOFA reduced order Optimal Interpolation,
    Assimilated once a week along-track SLA (SSALTO/DUACS),
    Assimilated once a week 1/8*1/8° SST analysis mean maps,
    Assimilated once a week XBT thermal profiles to 500m,
    MeanSSH from previous run with 1993-1999 forcing.
HYCOM/MICOM (US)
(model overview, history file, official web site,
access to data)
  • HYbrid Coordinate Ocean Model (HYCOM) 2.1,
    hybrid coordinates / free surface, no ice model,
    15 years spin up, KPP mixing

  • North Atlantic,
    (28°S-70°N, 98°W-36°W)
    Horiz. 1/12° (6,5km spacing on average),
    Verti. 26 hybrid isopycnal levels.

  • 3 hourly NOGAPS surface forcing (FNMOC: wind stress, wind speed, heat flux - Bulk Formulae -),
    Entrainment parameter of Mediterannean water outflow,
    Relaxation to Levitus SSS (SSS = 50% (E-P) + 50% relaxation),
    Relaxation to Reynolds SST,
    Buffer zones: 3° north and south with relaxation to monthly climatological T and S (MODAS),
    Monthly river runoff,
    Data assimilation stopped in coastal areas from depth 300m towards the coast".

  • Copper& Haines Optimal Interpolation,
    Assimilation once a week of SLA gridded maps (MODAS: Jason-1, GFO, ERS-2/Envisat),
    MeanSSH from 1/12° MICOM (ECMWF).

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