Dense water formation in the Northern adriatic

The formation of dense water in the Northern Adriatic has been studied by means of a 3D numerical model. The length and time scales of the preconditioning of the water column, subject to cooling at the surface, have been estimated and a simple scheme for the parameterization of convection in a numerical model has been developed. A 3D model is setup for the Northern and Middle Adriatic and forced with either climatology or ECMWF data over a period from the beginning of December to the end of June. The rate of dense water formation and its spreading is calculated and compared to recent estimates based on observations. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.