Simulations of the wind's effect on the oceans allow researchers to better understand the secrets of the deep—from the smallest planktons to the largest storms.

Capture the wind in a bottle. Then add the sea. Shake gently, and watch storms form. That's the idea behind the Spectral Element Ocean Model, a vast computer simulation of the Earth's oceans running on NCSA's SGI Origin2000 supercomputing system.

"This is the big picture," says Dale Haidvogel. "It encompasses everybody and all things." Haidvogel, a professor at Rutgers University's Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, leads the team that is simulating the effects of the wind on the ocean.

The wind is the main force making the oceans move. It physically changes the ocean surface in every way, from tiny riffles on the surface to massive tropical storms to worldwide weather events like El Niño. The wind also stirs the oceans, bringing cold, nutrient-rich waters up from the deep. And that creates biologically rich areas near the surface that are literally swimming with fish food. Haidvogel's worldwide ocean simulations not only model these processes but also allow other researchers to build smaller models that focus on the impact of ocean currents.

"Someone looking at the output of this model from the perspective of a pure physical scientist wants to know how the ocean is doing what it's doing," Haidvogel says. "Others are interested in the biological response to these currents, and how they ultimately affect fish. So we're building a hierarchy of nested models which will help answer these questions."

Access Online | Posted 5-23-2000