Main goal: In this project, the main goal is to evaluate how refining the ocean horizontal resolution and better resolving the mesoscale circulation alters the Southern Ocean's heat transport.

PS: The initial focus was on the heat transport across the continental slope. However, changes in cross-slope heat transport with resolution are quite small, and therefore the focus will likely shift to larger differences offshore

All simulations ran with the Pan-Antarcitc model (MOM6-SIS2 regional, northern boundary at $37^oS$. Horizontal resolutions of 1/10th ($0.1^o$), 1/20th ($0.05^o$) and 1/40th ($0.025^o$). Forced using repeated year forcing approach. Northern boundary forced with the year 2 of ACCESS-OM2-01 ryf conditions at $37^oS$.

• Cross slope heat transport (CSHT):

  • The CSHT seem to have a low sensitivity to refining resolution (#5), except only in the Dense Shelf Water layer, due to increase dense water formation in higher resolutions
  • The CDW mass exchange across the continental slope increases in finer resolutions as expected, but the upper CDW just off slope also cools down (#6). This upper CDW cooling compensates the increase in CDW mass exchange, making the CSHT almost insensitive to changes in resolution

• Offshore changes in heat transport and sea ice:

  • Winter sea ice extent decreases from coarser to finer resolution, reaching close to the observed sea ice extent, and better representing the observed spatial pattern of the sea ice border (#7 (comment))
  • The poleward heat transport increases significantly with resolution offshore [a], but the differences with resolution get smaller and smaller as we get closer to the continental shelf
  • In the higher resolution simulations there is more heat convergence below the sea ice (#8 (comment)). Assuming conservation, this higher concentration of heat likely increases vertical heat fluxes under sea ice, further melting it and reducing SIE and SIT

The continental shelf seem to have very low sensitivity to changes in resolution, which discourage us to pursue changes in CSHT as the direction of our paper. Heat transport offshore and sea ice extent seem to be much more senssitive to resolution refinement. These offshore changes could likely be explained by a richer mesoscale field in higher resolution, bringing more heat to the sea ice border, and enhancing the vertical mixing of warm CDW with surface water. This enhanced mixing could be driving the sea ice decrease. The question is: how obvious or interesting this eddy-heat transport - sea ice changes are? Are they worth publication?