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Ocean convection is a highly non-linear and local process. Typically, a small-scale phenomenon of this kind entails numerical problems in the modelling of ocean circulation. One of the tasks to solve is the improvement of convection parameterization schemes, but the question of grid geometry also plays a considerable role. Here, this question is studied in the context of global ocean models coupled to an atmosphere model. Such ocean climate models have mostly structured, coarsely resolved grids. Using a simple conceptual two-layer model, we compare the discretization effects of a rectangular grid with those of a grid with hexagonal grid cells, focussing on average properties of the ocean. It turns out that systematic errors tend to be clearly smaller with the hexagonal grid. In a hysteresis experiment with the atmospheric boundary condition as a hysteresis parameter, the spatially averaged behaviour shows nonnegligible artificial steps for quadratic grid cells. This bias is reduced with the hexagonal grid. The same holds for the directional sensitivity (or horizontal anisotropy) which is found for different angles of the advection velocity. The grid with hexagonal grid cells shows much more isotropic results. From the limited viewpoint of these test experiments, it seems that the hexagonal grid (i.e. icosahedral-hexagonal grids on the sphere) is recommendable for ocean climate models. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
We present a study of ocean convection parameterization based on a novel approach which includes both eddy diffusion and advection and consists of a two-dimensional lattice of bistable maps. This approach retains important features of usual grid models and allows to assess the relative roles of diffusion and advection in the spreading of convective cells. For large diffusion our model exhibits a phase transition from convective patterns to a homogeneous state over the entire lattice. In hysteresis experiments we find staircase behavior depending on stability thresholds of local convection patterns. This nonphysical behavior is suspected to induce spurious abrupt changes in the spreading of convection in ocean models. The final steady state of convective cells depends not only on the magnitude of the advective velocity but also on its direction, implying a possible bias in the development of convective patterns. Such bias points to the need for an appropriate choice of grid geometry in ocean modeling