This computation involved: GCOMS - Global Coastal-Ocean Modelling System. The GCOMS (Global Coastal-Ocean Modelling System) is a system for simulating all the coastal regions around the world in a systematic and practical fashion. It is based on automatically generating multiple nested model domains, using the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory Coastal Ocean Modelling System coupled to the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model.

While shelf seas only occupy 7 percent of ocean area, shelf and coastal seas are regions of exceptionally high biological productivity, high rates of biogeochemical cycling and immense socio-economic importance. They are, however, poorly represented by the present generation of Earth system models, both in terms of resolution and process representation because of the small scale processes, such as currents, tides and mixing. In order to include a shelf sea area, such as the North Sea, researchers have needed to setup model domains from scratch; often spending months gathering and configuring the data for a new model domain. GCOMS developed an automated system to set up models of continental shelves anywhere on the planet, drawing on global data sets of such things as water depth, weather conditions, and river run off. This shortens the processes to a matter of minutes, allowing to quickly build models of the 60 or so shelf seas around the globe.

Introduction

The GCOM system provides a flexible framework to set up any number of regional models of the continental shelf over the globe (the figure bellow from Holt J et al. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A 2009;367:939-951 shows an example), in a one-way nesting, using an independent larger scale OGCM to provide boundary conditions to all the coastal domains. The framework enables multiple regional model configurations to be generated from user-defined domain boundaries. These regional models can then be run either independently or with varying degrees of communication with neighbouring coastal domains. In the simplest mode of operation, domains can be run independently, each taking all lateral boundary conditions from the OGCM. Alternatively, one-way communication between domains allows limited connectivity, e.g. if water from domain X flows predominately northward into domain Y, we can use the solution from X to form the southern boundary conditions for Y. Finally, limited bidirectional interdomain communication can also be implemented.

See linked documentaion for schematic of the model domains.
Each coloured region represents a separate regional model domain that can be simulated independently or exchange boundary conditions with its neighbours. There are 42 regions, with approximately 106 grid points, covering approximately 30% of the oceans.

A demonstration of concept was done using the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory Coastal Ocean Modelling System coupled to the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model - see linked documentation.

Citation

J.T. Holt, J.D. Harle, R. Proctor, S. Michel, C. Batstone, J.I. Allen, R. Holmes, T. Smyth,
K. Haines, D. Bretherton, and G. Smith. Modelling the global coastal ocean. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society A, 367:93-951, 2009.

Who to contact (2010)

Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory (POL), 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L3 5DA, United Kingdom
Jason Holt, Roger Proctor, Sylvain Michel. Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, 6 Brownlow Street, Liverpool L3 5DA, United Kingdom. tel: 0(044)151 795 4953, E-mail: smic@pol.ac.uk .