ROMSPath v1.0: offline particle tracking for the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS)

Offline particle tracking (OPT) is a widely used tool for the analysis of data in oceanographic research. Given the output of a hydrodynamic model, OPT can provide answers to a wide variety of research questions involving fluid kinematics, zooplankton transport, the dispersion of pollutants, and the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geoscientific Model Development 2022-06, Vol.15 (11), p.4297-4311
Main Authors: Hunter, Elias J, Fuchs, Heidi L, Wilkin, John L, Gerbi, Gregory P, Chant, Robert J, Garwood, Jessica C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advection
Comparative analysis
Computer applications
Fluid flow
Fluid mechanics
Growth models
Hydrodynamic models
Interpolation
Kinematics
Modelling
Ocean models
Oceanic turbulence
Oceanographic research
Oceans
Ordinary differential equations
Particle tracking
Particle trajectories
Pollutants
Pollution dispersion
Stokes drift
Tracers
Tracers (Chemistry)
Transport
Turbulence
Velocity
Vertical turbulence
Zooplankton
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Summary:Offline particle tracking (OPT) is a widely used tool for the analysis of data in oceanographic research. Given the output of a hydrodynamic model, OPT can provide answers to a wide variety of research questions involving fluid kinematics, zooplankton transport, the dispersion of pollutants, and the fate of chemical tracers, among others. In this paper, we introduce ROMSPath, an OPT model designed to complement the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS). Based on the Lagrangian TRANSport (LTRANS) model (North et al., 2008), ROMSPath is written in Fortran 90 and provides advancements in functionality and efficiency compared to LTRANS. First, ROMSPath calculates particle trajectories using the ROMS native grid, which provides advantages in interpolation, masking, and boundary interaction while improving accuracy. Second, ROMSPath enables simulated particles to pass between nested ROMS grids, which is an increasingly popular scheme to simulate the ocean over multiple scales. Third, the ROMSPath vertical turbulence module enables the turbulent (diffusion) time step and advection time step to be specified separately, adding flexibility and improving computational efficiency. Lastly, ROMSPath includes new infrastructure which enables inputting of auxiliary parameters for added functionality. In particular, Stokes drift can be input and added to particle advection. Here we describe the details of these updates and performance improvements.
ISSN:1991-9603
1991-959X
1991-962X
1991-9603
1991-962X
DOI:10.5194/gmd-15-4297-2022