Abstract Submission No. | ABS-2022-05-0050 |
Title of Abstract | What causes the model-data misfit of the oxygen minimum zone in the Arabian Sea? |
Authors | Henrike Schmidt*, Julia Getzlaff, Ulrike Löptien, Andreas Oschlies |
Organisation | GEOMAR |
Address | Düsternbrooker Weg 20 Kiel, Schleswig Holstein, Germany Pincode: 24105 Mobile: 6004023 E-mail: hschmidt@geomar.de |
Country | Germany |
Presentation | Oral |
Abstract | The Arabian Sea hosts one of the thickest oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) of the world and to make reliable future predictions with models, it is crucial to represent the current status of such an ecosystem.
However, coarse global circulation models, as used for the IPCC, show generally a large model-data misfit with regard to oxygen. Therefore, a detailed comparison of models that present our present-day understanding of physical and biogeochemical processes, shall give an overview of the main model deficiencies.
We use the historical state of 10 coupled climate models from the 5th coupled model intercomparison project (CMIP5) to compare their water mass properties and the mixing behaviour with observations and refer these results to the oxygen profiles in the Arabian Sea. Grouping the data with a cluster analysis reduces the high dimensionality of the data and gives more meaningful statements.
We show which processes are significant and how they cause uncertainties in the oxygen representation. This should not only help to better illuminate the complex connections, but also to improve future models and thus to improve climate predictions. |