Surface horizontal kinetic energy sensitivity to numerical parameters in tidal-resolving North and Equatorial Atlantic simulations

Laxenaire, Rémi; Chassignet, Eric P.; Xu, Xiaobiao; Wallcraft, Alan J.; Hiron, Luna; Arbic, Brian K.; Buijsman, Maarten C.; Solano, Miguel; Elipot, Shane

doi:10.5194/gmd-19-5571-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-5571-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-5571-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 12

Model evaluation paper

|

29 Jun 2026

Model evaluation paper |

| 29 Jun 2026

Surface horizontal kinetic energy sensitivity to numerical parameters in tidal-resolving North and Equatorial Atlantic simulations

Rémi Laxenaire, Eric P. Chassignet, Xiaobiao Xu, Alan J. Wallcraft, Luna Hiron, Brian K. Arbic, Maarten C. Buijsman, Miguel Solano, and Shane Elipot

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-5571-2026-supplement

Data sets

Gridded rotary velocity spectra and surface kinetic energy in the North and Equatorial Atlantic from HYCOM NEATL simulations, OceanParcels trajectories, and GDP drifter observations Laxenaire Rémi et al. https://doi.org/10.17882/111296

Model code and software

Gridded rotary velocity spectra and surface kinetic energy in the North and Equatorial Atlantic from HYCOM NEATL simulations, OceanParcels trajectories, and GDP drifter observations Laxenaire Rémi et al. https://doi.org/10.17882/111296

Parcels (2.3.0) E. Van Sebille et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7035503

Short summary

Surface kinetic energy reflects the distribution of ocean circulation across temporal and spatial scales, shaping energy transfer and mixing in the upper ocean. In a series of North and Equatorial Atlantic numerical simulations, we show that the surface kinetic energy is sensitive to the model's choices in grid and seafloor resolution and to the tides and wind variability, offering guidance for the configuration of future ocean simulations.