A high-resolution ocean circulation model of the Gulf of Naples and adjacent areas

The implementation of a high-resolution circulation model of a southern Tyrrhenian coastal area is discussed. The sigma-coordinate Princeton Ocean Model (POM) is implemented with a 1/144° resolution in a domain that includes highly urbanized coastal areas, such as the Gulf of Naples and the nearby gulfs of Gaeta and Salerno, that are particularly relevant from oceanographic, ecological and social viewpoints. The model takes initial and boundary conditions from a 1/48° resolution POM model of the whole Tyrrhenian Sea. The main forcing is provided by ECMWF wind data, but an alternative wind field obtained from the Italian Space Agency COSMO-SkyMed X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar data is also tested. Fundamental aspects of coastal modeling, such as the relative importance of local and remote forcing in semi-enclosed seas, and the sensitivity to different wind products are discussed.