Flow field of the Mozambique Channel

The ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar is an§important fishing area and it also plays a pronounced§role in the global ocean circulation. The physical§and biological conditions are to a large extent§determined by the flow through the Mozambique§Channel. The current system is complex and includes§generation and advection of giant gyres. This makes§the ocean circulation expensive to monitor and§instead of traditional oceanographic measurements,§often numerical ocean models are used to study the§flow pattern of this region. This book offers an§overview of features predicted by a regional model,§and addresses how the simulations can be improved.§The analyses include a comparison between model runs§with adaptive boundary conditions and values at the§open boundaries fixed to climatology, as well as§investigation of the generation, migration and§hydrography of eddies in the Mozambique Channel.§Results show that the model can reproduce§many of the known processes that takes place in the§region and also shed new light§to the generation mechanisms. The discussed analyses§should be useful for anyone who are working with§marine processes in the Mozambique Channel.