Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observations

<p>In the Gulf of Trieste, the sea surface currents were observed by high-frequency radar for almost 2 years (2021–2022) at a temporal resolution of 30 min. We developed a hierarchy of idealized models to simulate the observed sea surface currents, combining a deterministic and a stochastic ap...

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Main Authors: S. Flora, L. Ursella, A. Wirth
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2025-07-01
Series:Geoscientific Model Development
Online Access:https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/4685/2025/gmd-18-4685-2025.pdf
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author S. Flora
S. Flora
L. Ursella
A. Wirth
author_facet S. Flora
S. Flora
L. Ursella
A. Wirth
author_sort S. Flora
collection DOAJ
description <p>In the Gulf of Trieste, the sea surface currents were observed by high-frequency radar for almost 2 years (2021–2022) at a temporal resolution of 30 min. We developed a hierarchy of idealized models to simulate the observed sea surface currents, combining a deterministic and a stochastic approach, in order to reproduce the externally forced motion and the internal variability, which is characterized by fat-tailed statistics. The deterministic signal includes tidal and Ekman forcing and resolves the slowly varying part of the flow, while the stochastic signal represents the fast-varying small-scale dynamics, characterized by Gaussian or fat-tailed statistics, depending on the statistic used. This is done using Langevin equations and modified Langevin equations with a gamma-distributed variance parameter. The models were adapted to resolve the dynamics under nine tidal and wind forcing protocols in order to best fit the observed forced motion and internal variability probability density function (PDF). The stochastic signal requires 2 stochastic degrees of freedom when the average tidal forcing is adopted, while it needs <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">1</mn><mo>/</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="4cd212bb5948f97dc54e7e1f631d7969"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="gmd-18-4685-2025-ie00001.svg" width="20pt" height="14pt" src="gmd-18-4685-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> stochastic degree of freedom when the complete tidal forcing is used. Despite its idealization, the deterministic–stochastic model with stochastic fat-tailed statistics captures the essential dynamics and permits mimicking the observed PDF. Moreover, a fluctuation response relation is valid when the stochastic signal is perturbed, showing that the response to an external perturbation can be obtained by considering the fluctuations of the unperturbed system.</p>
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spelling doaj-art-a92ee553f2164e99a0301d96c81b20152025-08-20T03:56:09ZengCopernicus PublicationsGeoscientific Model Development1991-959X1991-96032025-07-01184685471210.5194/gmd-18-4685-2025Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observationsS. Flora0S. Flora1L. Ursella2A. Wirth3Department of Mathematics, Informatics and Geosciences, University of Trieste, Trieste, ItalyNational Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS, Trieste, ItalyNational Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics – OGS, Trieste, ItalyUniv. Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, LEGI, 38000 Grenoble, France<p>In the Gulf of Trieste, the sea surface currents were observed by high-frequency radar for almost 2 years (2021–2022) at a temporal resolution of 30 min. We developed a hierarchy of idealized models to simulate the observed sea surface currents, combining a deterministic and a stochastic approach, in order to reproduce the externally forced motion and the internal variability, which is characterized by fat-tailed statistics. The deterministic signal includes tidal and Ekman forcing and resolves the slowly varying part of the flow, while the stochastic signal represents the fast-varying small-scale dynamics, characterized by Gaussian or fat-tailed statistics, depending on the statistic used. This is done using Langevin equations and modified Langevin equations with a gamma-distributed variance parameter. The models were adapted to resolve the dynamics under nine tidal and wind forcing protocols in order to best fit the observed forced motion and internal variability probability density function (PDF). The stochastic signal requires 2 stochastic degrees of freedom when the average tidal forcing is adopted, while it needs <span class="inline-formula"><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1" display="inline" overflow="scroll" dspmath="mathml"><mrow><mn mathvariant="normal">1</mn><mo>/</mo><mn mathvariant="normal">2</mn></mrow></math><span><svg:svg xmlns:svg="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="20pt" height="14pt" class="svg-formula" dspmath="mathimg" md5hash="4cd212bb5948f97dc54e7e1f631d7969"><svg:image xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="gmd-18-4685-2025-ie00001.svg" width="20pt" height="14pt" src="gmd-18-4685-2025-ie00001.png"/></svg:svg></span></span> stochastic degree of freedom when the complete tidal forcing is used. Despite its idealization, the deterministic–stochastic model with stochastic fat-tailed statistics captures the essential dynamics and permits mimicking the observed PDF. Moreover, a fluctuation response relation is valid when the stochastic signal is perturbed, showing that the response to an external perturbation can be obtained by considering the fluctuations of the unperturbed system.</p>https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/4685/2025/gmd-18-4685-2025.pdf
spellingShingle S. Flora
S. Flora
L. Ursella
A. Wirth
Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observations
Geoscientific Model Development
title Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observations
title_full Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observations
title_fullStr Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observations
title_full_unstemmed Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observations
title_short Comparing an idealized deterministic–stochastic model (SUP model, version 1) of the tide- and wind-driven sea surface currents in the Gulf of Trieste to high-frequency radar observations
title_sort comparing an idealized deterministic stochastic model sup model version 1 of the tide and wind driven sea surface currents in the gulf of trieste to high frequency radar observations
url https://gmd.copernicus.org/articles/18/4685/2025/gmd-18-4685-2025.pdf
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