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.