Assessment of the impact of spatial resolution on ROMS simulated upper-ocean biogeochemistry of the Arabian Sea from an operational perspective

ABSTRACT The resolution of the model emerges to be an important factor in simulating the real oceanic features. In this paper, the performance of two coupled bio-physical models, having spatial resolutions 1/12° (∼9 km) and 1/4° (∼25 km) configured using Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS), have been evaluated in simulating upper ocean dynamics of the Arabian Sea. A comparison of the model simulated physical and biogeochemical fields with the observations from remote sensing, in-situ ship-borne, and Biogeochemical-Argo (BGC-Argo) floats showed that the high-resolution model reproduced the ocean physical and biogeochemical dynamics, and their seasonality more efficiently. The upper ocean dynamics associated with the variability of mixed layer depth, persistent occurrence of deep chlorophyll maxima, and seasonal phytoplankton blooms. as well as deep ocean characteristics of oxygen minimum zone were much effectively captured by the high-resolution model than by its counterpart. Similarly, the former model performed very well in reproducing the upwelling dynamics over the eastern continental shelf indicating that the open ocean-coastal coupling has been better established. Our analysis indicates that the realistic representation of the eddy fields by the high-resolution model leads to the better representation of the ocean fields in comparison to the coarse-resolution model.