The reconstruction of the barotropic component of hydrostatic pressure in operational oceanology using measurements in the near-bottom layer

Abstract

Sea state forecast in operational oceanology is based on numerical models, which in most cases employ hydrostatic approximation, and therefore require the reconstruction of full hydrostatic pressure by using available measurement data. The sea level dynamics associated with density field heterogeneity may be taken into account by assimilation of thermohaline measurements, which leaves only the problem of estimating the barotropic pressure component. In particular, the barotropic part of pressure may be obtained by using satellite altimetry data. However, such data may contain large errors, especially for Arctic region or marginal seas, or bluntly may be unavailable. We discuss the problem of the reconstruction of the barotropic component of the hydrostatic pressure based on velocity measurements. It is shown that if the hydrostatic approximation is used, then the near bottom surface pressure may be estimated using the measurements of velocity near the ocean bed. Numerical simulations of wind driven barotropic ocean were performed. Calculations confirm that the reconstruction of barotropic component of hydrostatic pressure may be performed with sufficient accuracy for operational oceanology.