ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

Results from high-resolution simulations with the sea ice-ocean model FESOM, formulated on unstructured meshes, are presented in which ocean eddies are resolved in the North Atlantic region. By resolving ocean eddies, these features are represented by the laws of physics rather than empirical rules of thumb, as done in most existing climate simulations. A comparison with satellite data suggests that the simulated eddy fields start to become indistinguishable from observations, showing that the model passes the climatic Turing Test. It is argued that these high-resolution models have the potential to significantly increase our understanding of how the climate in general and the ocean in particular will be evolve in a warming world.

The gas transfer process across the air-water interface plays an important role in many industrial and environmental systems. Very thin diffusive layers mark the interfacial mass transfer of low-diffusive substances. Using simulation technologies, scientists try to achieve a good understanding of the physical processes by resolving the gas transfer in these thin layers.