POLCOMS - linking ocean to coast

Through a close association with The Meteorological Office, POLCOMS interfaces to realistic ocean forcing through coupling to their Forecast Ocean Atmosphere Model (FOAM).

Time and space varying temperature, salinity and currents from a near-global ocean model provide a significant advance over previous coastal ocean models employing climatological boundary conditions.

Ocean model results.

POLCOMS model results.

Extending the POL model out into the ocean (to 20°W and 40°N) offers the opportunity to properly resolve the ocean-slope-shelf region and thereby ensure realistic cross-slope fluxes of momentum, sediment, nutrients and carbon - quantities important in determining the global ocean budgets affected by climate change.