Articles | Volume 18, issue 18
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6415-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-6415-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Model description paper
| 
25 Sep 2025
Model description paper |
| 25 Sep 2025
| 25 Sep 2025
BIOPERIANT12: a mesoscale-resolving coupled physics–biogeochemical model for the Southern Ocean
Nicolette Chang
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory, CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Sarah-Anne Nicholson
Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory, CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
Marcel du Plessis
Department of Marine Science, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden
Alice D. Lebehot
Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory, CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
Thulwaneng B. Mashifane
Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory, CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
Tumelo C. Moalusi
Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory, CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
Global Change Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Precious Mongwe
Southern Ocean Carbon-Climate Observatory, CSIR, Cape Town, South Africa
Geosciences Department, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
Pedro M. S. Monteiro
School for Climate Studies, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
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Short summary
The Southern Ocean plays a key role in the Earth's carbon and heat cycles. Mesoscale features like eddies and fronts are crucial to this but are often unresolved in models due to computational limits. We built a regional NEMO model of the Southern Ocean at 8 km resolution, BIOPERIANT12, which simulates ocean, ice, and biogeochemistry. This helps us investigate dynamics such as how storms shape surface ocean structure and biology, ultimately affecting atmosphere–ocean carbon exchange.
The Southern Ocean plays a key role in the Earth's carbon and heat cycles. Mesoscale features...
Special issue