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29.5 The Killworth et al explicit_free_surface

This section was contributed by Martin Schmidt ( mschmidt@paula.io-warnemuende.de).

Option explicit_free_surface, along with one of the two options  explicit_eb or  explicit_efb enables the method introduced by Killworth, Stainforth, Webb and Paterson (1991). The free sea surface elevation is treated as an additional prognostic variable calculated together with the vertically integrated barotropic velocity. One major difference between the implicit free surface and explicit free surface code is a small timestep used to resolve the linear components of the barotropic equations. The reason for the smaller time steps in the explicit free surface is due to the allowance of external gravity waves (with wave speeds on the order of $100-200 \, m/sec$). Note that the method has been found suitable also for open boundary conditions where measured sea levels are prescribed.



 

RC Pacanowski and SM Griffies, GFDL, Jan 2000