A comparison of sea surface temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific Nino regions with results from two early runs of the NEMO 1/12° Ocean Model

Sea surface temperature observations from the Nino regions of the Tropical Pacific are compared with results from two 1/12° runs of the NEMO global ocean model. The results show good agreement between the model and observations. There was some concern that the model surface temperatures were being strongly coupled to the actual temperatures via the surface boundary conditions. The near surface structure of the ocean was investigated, as were the individual surface flux terms, but no evidence of strong coupling was found. In fact during the strongest warming periods the surface boundary conditions cooled the ocean more than normal.